


A Little Pixie Dust

by Shoeless_Sam



Series: It's Elmo's World and We're All Living In It [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Fae, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Fic, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Stenbrough, but it's really not focused on, it's Elmo's world and we're all living in it, no pennybitch, selective mutisim, selective mutism Bill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 22,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26147494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shoeless_Sam/pseuds/Shoeless_Sam
Summary: you know when two dumbasses have to raise a magical kid? yeah, that
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Victor Criss/Mike Hanlon
Series: It's Elmo's World and We're All Living In It [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087049
Comments: 92
Kudos: 40





	1. That's a Whole Ass Person

**Author's Note:**

> it's like half a crack fic

Stan studied the red that adorned the bird’s neck. The graceful long feathers and beak. It was small enough he could probably put it in his pocket.

With a quick consultation to his bird book Richie had gotten him for his birthday, he was positive that it was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 

Of course that was not all Richie got him. He also got a shirt that said “chick magnet” on it in big  _ big  _ letters. While Stan would never wear it in public, he did wear it most nights to bed. Not that Richie has to ever know that.

The bird was about three feet away and was happily resting on a thin branch. It’s head bobbing around but seeming to have no plans of leaving any time soon.

This is what the last three hours were building up.

Before Stan could get closer to the magnificent creature, a branch snapped and the bird flew far away.

“WILLIAM SHARON DENBROUGH!!!” Stan screamed in the direction of the unsuspecting Bill who had in fact stepped on the branch. “I did not spend three hours in the heat of the summer Derry sun for you to step on a branch right as I find a bird I like!!”

“I-I-I didn’t mean to!”

“It doesn’t matter Bill! The bird is gone!!”

“Okay w-well… I’m sorry???”

Really it was a miracle that Stan only hit his arm. He wanted to kill him.

“Sorry isn’t enough-” Stan cut himself off when he thought he heard someone screaming for help. “Do you hear that?”

“... yeah… l-l-let’s go check th-th-t-t-that out.” Stan was already walking towards the noise before Bill finished answering.

Sure, it could be a trap. But maybe someone actually needed their help. Derry was never the nicest place, but Stan hoped by doing good deeds it would make the town a little bit brighter.

The source of the noise ended up being a crow who was screaming “help” over and over again.

“That’s… odd,” was all that Stan could manage out.

“T-that’s a b-b-b-b-bit more than odd. That-- can--can-can-can’t happen.”

“Apparently it can.”

The bird started hoping away while still continuing to scream the word over and

over. Stan couldn’t help but follow. He was almost entranced.

“I heard some birds can mimic speech. Maybe someone does need help and they’re using the bird as, like, a messenger or something.”

“O-o-or i-i-i-i-it’s not human.”

“We should at least see. If someone needs our help, then we help them. No questions asked.

* * *

Stan currently had questions. Lots and lots and lots.

The bird had led them to a grove. Or maybe an opening in the forest. Stan wasn’t well versed in nature lingo. He left that to Mike.

What he could point out was the overgrown moss that covered the whole ground and the pleasant sunlight that filtered through the trees. It felt safe and uncertain at the same time.

Then there was the small, hand-woven basket placed on a rock that the crow had perched itself on. It had a delicate white sheet over it.

“M-maybe it’s bread.”

“Why would a bird scream help for bread?”

“... b-b-because it’s h-hungry and can’t open i-i-i-i-it? They d-don’t have hands.”

Stan sighed and rolled his eyes. “Just go open the basket, Bill.”

He watches as Bill did just that. The bird sat on the handle of the basket and watched Bill. If it was bread, it was probably poisoned anyways.

“... holy shit,” Bill whispered out. Stan rushed over to see what was wrong.

“Fuck.”

Inside the basket was a tiny sleeping baby. The baby was swaddled in a light blue blanket and had a little hat on. He also had little things scattered around in the basket; a rattle, a pacifier, and a simple multicolored block.

“That’s a whole ass person,” Stan whispered to Bill. Bill had the same expression Stan expected he had himself. Scared, worried, and in shock.

“You th-th-t-think I don’t f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fucking know that?”

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know!” At the scream the baby started wiggling and opening their eyes slowly. “Fuck Stan-- it’s awake.”

“They are not an it. They’re a baby.” Said baby was starting to cry and Stan really wished it was just an it. “Fuck!”

“M-make it shut up!” Stan was very very scared to touch the baby but he did know it would be best to at least calm the child before they figured out what to do next.

Stan leaned down and carefully picked the baby up. He made sure to support his head. A fact about babies he knew all too well from when Bill’s baby brother had been born.

The baby was quite cute if he was being honest. They had light freckles on their cheeks and nose. Soft golden curls that peeked out from under the hat. And bright blue eyes.

Stan bounced the baby lightly and rubbed their back. “It’s okay. You’re okay-- I’m sorry that the mean boy scared you.” He glared at Bill. Afterall, he was the one who had screamed.

“I didn’t d-do shit.” Bill was inspecting the basket.

“You did enough.”

* * *

It took 35 minutes to calm the baby down.

“My arms feel like fucking jello,” Stan whispered angrily to Bill as he sat down on the rock. The last half hour had been nothing but crying, bouncing, and pouting thanks to Bill.

“Want me to take them?”

“Yes fucking please.” Stan carefully handed the baby over to Bill and finally was able to rest his arms. Bill quickly started patting the baby’s back. Something they had learned helped to keep them calm.

“... w-what are w-w-we going to do?”

“We have a few options I guess.” Stan played with a piece of grass. “One. Drop the baby at the fire station or police station. They can find something to do with them. Two, we put up posters that we found a missing kid. Or three… we tell the police station we found a missing kid.”

“If we go to the police station th-th-they’ll think we’re behind all t-the missing children.” The worst thing was Bill was right.

Sure children had gone missing in Derry for decades. But two boys turning in a random baby also didn’t look good.

“I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-” Stan put a gentle hand on Bill’s shoulder. It seemed to do the trick in calming him down. “I don’t want to drop them at the fire station.”

“What else can we do?”

“W-w-why don’t we j-just look around at the m-m-missing posters that are up. We’ll t-t-take care of the baby ourselves until we f-find who they belong to.”

Stan nodded along slowly. It made sense in a way. If this baby went missing, the parents would have definitely put up missing posters around town. Stan could handle two days tops with the baby.

“Okay. Deal. But we need to call them something other than the baby.”

“W-w-we don’t know their name.”

“... make up a name. Like anything seriously.”

Bill nodded slowly and bounced the baby a little more. “We d-d-don’t even know if t-th-th-they’re a boy or girl.”

“I’m not fucking checking. Not my place to look.”

“... w-we can make my mom do it. Th-th-they’re gonna n-need a diaper change at some point.”

Stan hadn’t even thought of that. He hadn’t thought of anything really. But now his mind couldn’t help but run with what-ifs. A lot could happen in two days.

  
  



	2. The Cherry on Fucking Top

Stan held the baby closer and patted their back. They were about to go inside and talk to Bill’s family about what they had found. Or  _ who _ .

“Technically, we did nothing wrong,” Stan told Bill. Though he was more telling himself.

“E-exactly.”

Bill used the hand not holding the basket to open his front door. “Mom? Dad?” Bill called out as they walked inside. It was quiet. Which usually meant Georgie was at a friend’s house.

“I’m in the kitchen, sweetheart!” Bill’s mom, Sharon, called out.

Stan nodded and they walked into the kitchen. Stan decided to stay more by the door. It would be nice to get to explain the situation before he saw the baby.

Once Sharon caught sight of Bill, she came over and kissed his head. “How was bird watching?”

“I-i-i-i-i-i-it w-was g-g-good.”

She smoothed out the hair on his head and then cupped his face. “You seem nervous. What's wrong?”

“Mrs. Denbrough,” Stan stepped in. She turned her attention to him and miraculously did not seem to pick up on the swaddled baby in his arms. “We found… a thing out in the woods today and we’re not sure what to do.”

“What did you find?” Bill slowly motioned toward the baby and then closed his eyes. “What is that?”

“It’s… a baby. Bill and I followed sounds and found them just in a little basket. We don’t know what to do exactly.”

“... well let me take a look.”

Stan walked closer to Sharon and showed her the baby. Said baby was opening and closing their mouth over and over again and making little sounds.

“They a-also des-desp-des-desperately need a diaper change.”

“I can do that. I’ll be right back.”

“T-thanks mom.”

* * *

  
  


“I’m nervous and I don’t know why,” Stan finally blurted out after what felt like hours sitting and waiting for their-- for the baby and Sharon to come back out.

Bill softly touched his shoulder. “Why’s that?”

“I just said I don’t know!!”

“... are you n-nervous to learn what g-g-gender the baby is?”

“No. Well… I guess I’m nervous to have to find a nickname for the baby.” Bill nods along as he explains. “And for what your mom says. And dad… I just want the kid to find his parents and be safe. And Derry… it’s hard to be safe here.

“They’ll be okay Stan. We’ll find their parents.” A small part of him hoped whoever the baby’s parents were, that they would let Stan visit the baby at least. Afterall, he had practically saved the kid’s life from like a bear or something.

Stan nodded and smiled softly just as Sharon came back out with the baby.

“Are they a boy or girl?!” Stan asked as he stood up and walked over to Sharon.

She laughed quiet and handed Stan the baby. “They… are a little boy.”

“Aww! Bill!” Stan couldn’t help but contain his excitement. Not that he was attached to the baby. Of course not. He just found it exciting.

Bill smiled and walked over to them. He rubbed the little boy’s head over the hat. “Hi little boy.”

“We gotta figure out something to call him now.”

“Why don’t you boys go upstairs, get him settled in, and I will call Zak to come home.”

* * *

Getting him settled ended up meaning building a wall made up of pillows and blankets so he couldn’t escape. And Bill and Stan on either side of him watching him as closely as they could.

“H-how do p-p-people even lose a b-baby?!”

“... I have no idea.”

“W-why did my mom seem so f-f-f-f-f-fucking chill about this?!”

“I also have no idea.” It was strange. That was sure. But they were always a little too easy going about things. “But maybe it’s cause you’re 18.”

“I just turned 18-- and y-you’re still 17! So what do our ages e-even c-ch-change?”

“No. Like… you’re 18 so pretty much whatever you do, they can’t go against. She’s probably just trying to figure out the situation before she tries to give you advice.”

“W-we already h-h-have a p-plan.”

“Yeah, we do. We’ll tell them later and then they can properly freak out.”

Stan smiled at Bill softly before smiling down at the little boy. They had unwrapped the blanket and found the baby in a loose shirt made out of delicate fabric and a diaper. But they left the hat on.

“Billy, do you think the hat is too hot for him? His cheeks are red and he feels kind of warm.”

“M-m-maybe,” Bill said as he took to the hat off of the baby.

“Nope. No fucking way,” Stan said in reference to the pointy ears that were revealed by taking off the baby’s hat. “That is not normal.”

“People can be born with p-p-pointy ears.”

“... we found him in the woods. He has pointy ears… what about this is normal?!”

“Maybe we should take him to the d-doctor.”

Stan couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Bill truly was an idiot. “Yeah cause that will just go great!! Truly great job.” Stan clapped a few times to add to his snarkiness. “You really think we’re gonna walk into a Derry pediatrics thing and tell them we found this random baby in the woods with pointy fucking ears?! They’ll not only think we’re kidnapping him but also think that we are FUCKING INSANE BILL!”

Then the baby started crying again. Really the cherry on fucking top.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already know what they're gonna call the baby but y'all got any predictions?


	3. How Not to Deal With The News of a Magic Surprise

“... R-r-rufus?”

“Absolutely not.”

“We c-could just call him p-p-pointy ears.”

Stan gave him a look that surely could have summoned hell upon him. “No way. He gets an actual name. Or nickname. Whatever. He gets that.”

“Pointy ears is a real nickname.”

Stan looked down at the little boy who was eating his hands.

“Okay, so maybe I want to give him more of a name… it doesn’t feel right to take care of him if he doesn’t have a name.”

“He p-probably has an actual name…”

“Yeah but… look, if we don’t name him something then Richie has the satisfaction of calling him pointy ears.”

Bill looked more terrified at that than anything Stan had ever seen him face. “R-r-right. Okay--there m-must be a s-s-s-s-s-s--sit online with baby names.”

“Why don’t I look for names… and you can try to see why his ears are pointy.”

“Deal.”

* * *

“Okay… t-t-th-this is going to s-sound a little insane,” Bill broke the silence after an hour of their collective research.

“More insane than finding a baby with pointy ears in the forest?” That got a good laugh out of the both of them. It was something that made Stan feel a little better about the whole thing. They were still friends. They could take care of his little… adventure.

“So I-i-i did a t-ton of research. Like Sam from S-s-s-s-s-s-supernatural levels.”

“That’s a lot of levels,” Stan noted as he let the baby wrap his hand around Stan’s pointer finger.

He was also mentally going through the list of names he liked. Peter was nice but it felt a little too boring and common with this pointy-eared baby. He also liked William. Just to fuck with Bill. But he also knew that would get shut down immediately.

“Y-yeah yeah. It is… so he might be… a fairy? O-o-or a fae?”

“... what the fuck do you mean?”

“I k-know that it s-s-sounds insane. I g-get that. But it makes sense… s-s-sometimes fairies will just leave th-th-their children. Sometimes i-in exchange f-for a human baby.”

“But you think since we found the little guy all alone he was just left?” Bill nodded. “How would we even know for sure?”

“W-well if he is, th-th-then th-th-t-t-the…  _ there  _ would be no missing posters. And his e-ears are p-p-pretty much a dead giveaway.”

“Anything else we need to worry about? Will he want to eat human blood?”

“Nope! They eat mostly m-milk, cream, and honey. And human f-f-food

sometimes… but w-we’ll know for s-sure if he grows wings.”

Unsurprisingly, that was a lot to take in.

“Okay well, we are still gonna try to find his parents. Cause… they are not us. He needs to go home.”

“Agreed.”

“So what do we have to do now?”

“We can’t let him t-t-touch s-steel or iron. Th-that could either hurt him r-r-r-r-r-really bad or… kill him.” Stan nodded along and quickly made a list of all the things in the house that would have to be put away. “We also can’t give him our names.”

“What do you mean?”

“Then he could like… I’m not r-really sure. Google j-just said th-th-that that would give him power over us?”

“So what do we do then?”

“I’m not sure. W-we’ll just have to find s-s-something else for him to call us.”

Stan nodded along slowly. He still didn’t fully believe it. There was no way they had stumbled across a magic baby in the woods. Even though somehow it made a fraction of sense. All they could do was wait. If he grew wings, if there were no missing posters… then they’d figure out what to do.

“Okay. But right now, he’s just a human. We have to act like he is.”

Bill nodded slowly but didn’t look fully convinced. Stan grabbed one of Bill’s hands and held it firmly.

“If he is a magic fairy thing from the woods then we can deal with that once it arrives. And then we can do even better sticking him back into the forest.”

“I-if he is a magical fairy… th-then it’s likely his parents wouldn’t t-t-take him back, Stan.”

“He would still be better off where he was supposed to be. Better than with us. We can’t even take care of ourselves.”

“B-better than a b-b-bear or mountain lion finding him! Or another h-human. Derry isn’t safe. I, f-for one, don’t want to leave him to die out th-th-there.”

“That’s not what I said!”

“T-that’s what it sounded like!!”

Stan felt stung. He would never want that for this little boy. He was just being realistic. Sure, he was more than happy to keep the little boy safe until they found his parents. That’s all they could do. He wasn’t going to steal someone else’s kid and play house with Bill. It didn’t make sense. Especially not if it was a magic kid. He could not handle that.

“... okay well. It’s not what I meant. I really care about him. So let’s just try to find his parents and go from there.”

“O-okay.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you think of this fic! I love hearing your feedback


	4. Live-In Best Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the moment you've all been waiting for,,, the name reveal!

Stan played with the baby blanket with one of his hands. It was soft. Very  _ very  _ soft. It was the only thing keeping him sitting.

Him, Bill, and the baby were on one couch while Bill’s parents sat on the other.

“So… have you found any missing posters yet?” Bill’s dad, Zak, asked.

“W-we haven’t r-r-really gotten the chance to look yet.”

Zak nodded slowly. “What’s your plan for now?”

“Stan and I w-will look after h-h-him while we look around for missing posters.”

“It’s quite likely he could have just been abandoned. That happens a lot. What will you do then?”

“Mr. Denbrough,” Stan jumped in. “I think the first course of action is to assume he does have parents that want him back. If we can’t find anything, then we can go from there. We’re still kids, we don’t have any idea what we’re doing.”

“Then maybe you should bring him to the police station and-”

“No!” Stan was quick to cut him off. “No way. Derry isn’t good to kids who have it harder. And a lost baby is one of the hardest. He stays with us.”

“Then I think you have your answer.”

Stan wasn’t sure what Zak meant, but he wasn’t going to question it. They seemed on board with the boys’ plan and Stan didn’t want to mess that up.

“What are we going to call him?” Sharon asked softly.”

“Well… me and Bill decided that I would pick his fake first name. And Bill would pick his middle name. Just in case he needed a middle name for whatever reason.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“W-w-we haven’t a-actually t-t-told each other yet.”

Stan felt his nerves pick up again. He was very scared for what Bill chose as the boy’s middle name.

“I,” Stan started as he smiled down at the wiggling baby in Bill’s arms. “Chose the name Finley.

“I c-chose Elmo.”

_ Wait… WHAT?! _

“Elmo?”

“Y-y-yes.”

“I love it!” Sharon said and she was smiling very wide.”

“Finley Elmo it is.”

* * *

Bill had no idea how to break the news to his brother. After all, he wasn’t even sure what the news was. Either they had found a random missing kid that needed his parents back, a random missing fairy child who needed his parents back, a random missing kid that they would have to keep or find a new family for, or a missing fairy kid that they would have to keep or find a new family for.

He also picked up on the heart eyes Stan made whenever he interacted with the kid-- with Finley. He actually really liked the name and thought it fit well for the little baby.

But he still had to tell Georgie.

Stan was laying on the bed with Finley on his chest and rubbing the little boy’s back when the front door opened.

“H-h-h-h-h-h-h-he’s here,” Bill whispered. Bill flicked his hands out to try and relive some of his stress and nerves.

Stan sat up the tiniest bit to look at Bill more clearly. “Who is?”

“My brother.” Stan nodded. “St-stay here with F-f-fin-le-l-l… Fin-l-l-l-l-”

“Bill. Calm down. I promise you it is okay. I’ll stay here with him. Just go talk to your brother.”

Stan gave him a soft smile and suddenly he didn’t feel like he was in the middle of the woods without a map.

He nodded before rushing downstairs. It was better to just get this over with than drag it out.

His brother was just taking his shoes off when he spotted Bill and waved with his adorable, happy smile. “Hey Billy!”

“H-h-hi Georgie. Can I t-t-talk to you?”

“Of course! What’s up?” Georgie slipped his shoes off and stood up straighter. Man, he was getting tall.

“I--uh… c-c-come upstairs please.”

He looked the tiniest bit confused but nodded as he followed his brother upstairs.

At first, Bill was going to tell Georgie before introducing him to Finley. But maybe this would be the easiest way. Just rip the bandaid off.

When they got to Bill’s room, Finley was screaming his head off. Because of course he was.

“W-what’s wrong?! W-w-what h-happened?!?”

“I don’t know! I think he’s hungry. But I looked it up and he can only eat like fucking baby food! So I have no idea what the fucking fuck to do except let him scream.”

Bill carefully took the baby from Stan and started bouncing him softly and rubbing his back. Soon enough his screams turned into quiet crying. Not great. But it was an improvement nonetheless.

“Fuck. You’re really good at that.”

He couldn’t help the heat that rose to his cheeks. He liked when his friends complimented him.

“T-t-th-th-thanks Stan. It’s just luck I think.”

“What a second,” Georgie broke the silence. Fuck. He was still here. “Who is that? Where did that come from?”

“G-g-georgie. This is Finley. He’s k-kind of l-l-like… Stan and I are t-taking care of him right now.”

“Why?!”

“Because he needs our help,” Stan stepped in. “He’s a baby. Who doesn’t have his parents right now.”

“So you two are his parents now?!”

“... in a way. Just until we find his real parents.”

“But! You’re teenagers!!” And there’s the freakout Bill had expected from his parents. “And I’m your little brother Billy! You have to take care of me!”

“Oh Georgie. I c-can t-t-take care of both of y-you. W-we’ll still go to the movies e-e-every Friday. It’s just… he needs our help right now.”

“And,” Stan said while smiling softly at Georgie. “It’s like you have a live-in best friend!”

“I already have one. That’s my brother.”

“N-now you g-g-get two. Trust me, You’ll l-love him.” And he really knew Georgie would. His little brother was the kindest person he knew.

Georgie nodded and smiled up at Bill.

  
  



	5. And Then It All Came Falling Down

“What do you m-mean you haven’t fed him?!” Bill asked as Stan was desperately trying to calm the screaming baby down.

“Last time I checked, you don’t have baby food in your fridge.”

“Just f-feed him an a-a-apple!”

Stan gave him a look he hoped showed Bill just how disappointed he was in him for that answer. “He’s like a few months old, Bill. He can only have extremely soft foods.”

“... apple s-sauce?”

“I guess? Maybe?” Stan really wasn’t sure. All he knew was that baby food existed for a reason.

“D-d-does he have teeth?”

Stan hadn’t thought to check. And checking for teeth while the baby was crying didn’t seem very easy.

“Can you check?”

“S-sure. Just hold him in p-p-place.” Stan nodded and held Finley so his back was to Stan’s chest. Bill came over and carefully looked for any baby teeth. “O-oh.”

“What is it?! Is he okay?”

An extra layer of panic added when Finley stopped crying. Which could have been from him being distracted by Bill. But it was still concerning.

“Y-yeah he’s fine… he has b-baby t-t-teeth… it’s just t-t-that they’re baby… fangs.”

“... fangs? He has fangs?” Finley being a fae started to be less of something to agree to and then forget about and more of an actual possibility.

“W-w-well, he could j-just have sharp canines.”

Stan looked down to see what Bill was seeing and sure enough Finley had a set of fangs on the top. He made a mental note not to let the kid chew on his fingers.

“I’m gonna go with a no on any hard foods then, B. Cause he can’t really chew with that.”

“T-t-they seem pretty sharp.”

“They do…” Stan watches as Finley started trying to take off his little hat. His coordination was no where near the point of being able to get it off. It ended up being him hitting his head until Stan finally took the hat off for him. “But he’s tiny. And I don’t want him to choke.”

“I c-can make s-s-s-s-s-sm-smoothies.”

“That is a wonderful idea.” He smiles soft and runs his fingers through Finley’s soft, golden curls. “What are we going to have him call us? Didn’t you say we can’t give him our name?”

“Y-yeah. I mean… so we have t-two solutions. Either we make it very clear th-th-that it’s what he can  _ call _ us.”

“He’s a baby. I’m not sure the intricacies of language have developed yet. And he’s going to need to learn our names-- he’s probably already heard them.”

“We can g-g-give him nicknames to c-call us.”

“Aren’t Bill and Stan already nicknames of our names?”

“T-t-technically yes. But we should try to limit even saying th-that.”

Stan nodded along slowly. It was really confusing to him. They’d already been saying each others names back and forth. But if Finley would be staying with them a while, then they had to do these things. To keep him safe.

“We can have him call us like dad or something?” Bill immediately turned bright red at the suggestion and pressed his face against the bed. “What? Don’t make this weird.”

“You’re t-t-th-t-th-the one m-m-making t-this weird!” Bill said, voice muffled from the bedsheets.

“No I’m not! It’s a fair suggestion! Like… what if we need to take him to like a doctor or something. We’d have to pretend to be his parents. Otherwise they’d think we abducted him.”

“We l-live in D-d-d-d-d-derry! We can’t b-both be his d-dad!!”

“Of course not. I would be his papa. Obviously.”

“Y-y-you’re not m-making t-t-this better! Stan. He’s not our k-k-kid. You know th-that right?”

Stan looked down at Finley. He knew that. Obviously. Bill had been the one to say they needed fake names in the first place. He was just trying to help. And that’s why it hurt him. Because he was just trying to do what was right.

He didn’t realize he was crying until Bill softly brushes his tears away.

“Stan… h-hes not ours.” His voice was soft and that made Stan hurt even more.

“I know that. I’m not fucking dumb, okay? I was just trying to help. So whatever! He can call us whatever. I don’t really care.”

“O-okay b-b-but--” Before Bill could finish his apology, Stan had handed him Finley and was heading straight for the door. “W-where are you g-g-going?”

“To look for missing posters! I don’t know!! I just… he needs his real parents.”

And then he was gone. And Bill was alone with a baby he had no idea how to care for.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to some angst :)


	6. One and a Half Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR PAST ABUSE!!!
> 
> more details in the notes at the end!!

“O-okay… okay. Just… stay.”

Bill carefully backed away from where he had set Finley down on the counter. He was going to try to find something for Finley to eat, but he couldn’t do that while also holding the baby.

He has also found out that Finley couldn’t lift his head up. After some tears and bandaids, Bill thought they were ready to try this again. This time, laying Finley down on his back.

“D-d-don’t fall.” Finley gurgled in what Bill hoped was agreement.

Bill would be in so much trouble if FInley fell off the counter. Stan would be livid. He already was.

Bill turned around and took out a banana. He could mash it up and that should be good enough for Finley.

As he did, he let his mind go over what had happened with Stan. It was a lot to take in.

Stan was obviously very attached to the little boy. They both knew there was a high chance they would never find the baby’s real parents. This was Derry afterall. He had probably been left on purpose.

But there was also the whole magic thing. He didn’t know if they had come from some fairy kingdom or Derry. Maybe they were looking for their son.

Bill knew it was best not to get attached yet. He wouldn’t let himself be.

Bill finished up the mashed bananas and walked over to Finley. Who was right where he left him. Chewing on his hat.

“T-that’s s-s-so gross, buddy,” Bill commented as he lifted Finley up. Finley giggled in response and started drooling. “Ew.”

Bill sat down at the table and put the bowl on the table. Watching the kid try to take off his hat earlier, Bill knew he would have to spoon feed him.

He started by confiscating the hat and placing it on the table. Finley reached out for it immediately.

“Y-you can get y-y-your hat back after you eat. Deal?”

Finley slammed one of his hands down on the table, still trying to go after the damn hat. Bill softly grabbed his hand.

“N-no Fins. That’s an o-o-ouchie.”

_ Oh.  _ He said Fins. That was… something. But he didn’t have much time to dwell on it. He had a baby that needed to be fed.

Bill took a little bit of the bananas on a spoon. “Okay b-bud-bud-bud-b-buds. Open up.”

Finley shook his head and tried to hit the spoon away. So much for a calm snack.

“P-please? You’re hungry. I-i-i know you are.”

He tried again just to get the same result. Bill let out a frustrated sigh and sat the spoon back down.

He turned Finley so his head was in Bill’s elbow and he could look at the little boy. His little face was scrunched up and red and he was starting to cry.

“Oh buddy. I k-know y-y-you miss him. I do too. S-st-ah… he’ll be back s-soon buds.” He kissed the little boy’s head. “He’ll know h-how to g-g-get you to eat. He’s really good a-and sm-smart, huh?”

Finley continued to cry. Bill had to find some way to comfort him.

Bill started to move Finley so they could be chest to chest when he noticed something strange. He quickly stood up and moved them to the couch where he was able to lay the baby down.

“I-i-i’m just going to look at s-s-s-s-s-something buds. P-please sit st-s-still.”

He gently moved part of the little boy's shirt. Sure enough, he saw what he thought he had.

He wanted to cry. And scream.

_ It wasn’t fair. _

On the little boy’s tummy were bruises and burns. But they looked intentional. Whoever had left him had also left these. And he knew well enough that it was the boy’s parents.

“Oh Fin…”

He picked the baby back up and hugged him as tight as he could without hurting the little guy.

There was no way he could give this baby back now. No way in hell.

“... Papa w-w-will be back soon buddy.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning Details : Bill finds bruises and burns on Finley-- implying that his parents abused him


	7. A Surprise Unveiling

Stan pounded on the door almost as fast and hard as his heart was pounding. Maybe he shouldn’t have skipped P.E. with Richie so much.

But he knew he had to talk to someone. Someone who wouldn’t make inappropriate jokes or freak out of germs. He needed someone used to responsibility. Used to taking care of living things.

So when the door opened and he didn’t see Mike Hanlon standing on the other side, he was more than a little confused.

“What the absolute fuck?!”

“Woah dude,” the blond boy who tormented him and his friends asked. And he actually seemed a little worried. “Are you okay?”

“What are you doing here?! Where’s Mike?”

The boy--who Stan thought he remembered being named Victor--paled at that. “He, uh, well… I don’t. Um… fuck.”

“... Did you hurt him?” Stan kept as calm as he could. Even with the rising panic he felt. He knew that if he didn’t stay calm, it could get a lot worse.

“Mikey?!” Victor shouted into the house.

After a few moments, two pairs of footsteps came running down. Stan watched at Mike ran down with a little goat hot on his heels.

“What is it ba-” Mike cut himself off as his eyes landed on Stan. “Stan? What are you doing here?

Stan looked between them and the pieces, although very strange, started to come together. Mike shirtless and only wearing some PJ pants. Victor wearing baggy shorts and a shirt Stan knows he’s seen Mike wear.

“Are you two fucking?” Maybe it was a little too blunt, but Stan wasn’t one for beating around the bush.

Victor turned bright red as Mike laughed and pulled Victor against him. Victor quickly hid against Mike’s chest “I wasn’t really planning on telling anyone… like ever. But… yeah. You got us.”

“Wow… but.. Henry..?”

“He doesn’t know. And he probably will never know.”

Stan nodded slowly. It was a lot to wrap his head around, but it made sense.

“So why do you look like you’re slowly losing your mind?”

Oh.  _ That.  _ “Cause I am.”

“... come inside. Let's talk.”

* * *

“... in the woods?” Mike asked for probably the eight hundredth time. And it was maybe starting to get on Stan’s nerves.

“Yes. The woods. But now he’s not in the woods and he’s at Bill’s house!! Currently doing god knows what with Bill-- fuck! I should not have left them alone. He can barely remember to feed his hamster.”

“You said his mom knows and is there,” Victor reminded him. Over the span of the two hours they had been talking, Stan had found he was surprisingly level-headed and thoughtful. He listened and contributed valuable points. “His mom will not let him mess up with the baby. So I think we can all at least know that the baby is okay where he is.”

“Yeah… yeah. Finley’s okay.” That was the first time he had said the baby’s name. He hadn’t meant to. It wasn’t even really his name. Just a placeholder. But he couldn’t take it back now.

“His name is Finley?” Mike asked softly with a clear smile on his face. Stan nodded. “That’s a really cute name, Stan.”

“Wait,” Victor said, sitting up a little more but still holding onto Mike’s arm. “How do you know his name?”

“Well, technically, we don’t. But we had to figure out something to call him. While we look for his parents.”

“Have you made any progress on that?”

“No… I looked a little today. Downtown. By the movie theater.”

“That wall of missing posters, right?”

“Yep… nothing was there. And he couldn’t have been gone long but… they might not be out there.”

“Plus,” Mike gently said. “Bill has that theory about the fairies right?”

“It’s less of a theory and more of a high chance it’s fact… but yeah. So… my plan right now is to plan to keep him.”

“Does Billy know that?” Stan shook his head and looked down. “Stan… you need to tell him.”

Stan knew that obviously. But he had so much on his mind right now. So many conflicting thoughts.

“Okay, so, let’s think this through,” Victor said. “If he is a fairy, which wouldn’t be the strangest thing in Derry, what then? What does that change?”

“Only some things he has to stay away from. Bill and I can’t give him our names. He’ll also get wings at some point so that will be… something to handle.”

Victor nodded and cleared his throat before continuing, “Would him being something different mean you wouldn’t want to take care of him.”

There was no hesitation. Stan knew his answer right away. “No. Of course not.”

“And do you want to take care of him?” Mike asked. Stan knew Mike really cared about this answer. Which was fair. This would change his life. They all knew that.

“Yeah… yeah I think I really want to--if we can’t find his parents obviously.”

“And with Bill? Are you just going to raise a kid together or…” 

Stan turned red. He was smart enough to know what Mike was implying. “I--uh, well. That’s… I can’t say that.. I, uh-- wow. Is it hot in here?”

Mike laughed and Victor hit his arm. “Mikey. Stop being meannnnnnnn.”

“But it’s so funny, Vickie!”

Stan hated to break the moment, but he had a feeling they wouldn’t mind. “Hey, can I maybe stay for dinner? I just… still got a lot to think about.”

Surprisingly, Victor answered. “Course you can!”

  
  



	8. Home is a Three Person Word

It was nearing nine pm when Mike dropped Stan off at his house. Mike and Vic--apparently that’s what his friends and… friends with benefits… called him--had helped talk him through what he wanted.

If Bill didn’t want the same thing, then he would do it alone. Him and Finley. Just them.

Sure, his parents were gonna kill him. But he had to do this. It’s what he wanted.

Stan unlocked the door using the key he’d been given when they were still kids. Every loser had a house key for the others. It was part of how they stayed safe.

Bill’s house was quiet, which usually meant Georgie was upstairs. But the strangest part was he couldn’t hear Finley crying. He couldn’t help the nervous flash that went through him.  _ What if Bill had found his parents? _

_ What if Bill didn’t want him? _

_ What if he had just taken him back into the forest and left him there?! _

Stan rushed to the living room. He decided he would check every room before checking the forest. He got to the living room and all at once the panic dissipated.

Bill was sitting on the couch with a little bundle on his chest cradled close. His boys were both asleep while Sesame Street buzzed quietly on the TV.

Stan laughed softly. Bill, the dumbass he was, must have been showing it to Finley since his middle name was Elmo.

Stan couldn’t help but take a picture of them. And maybe he would make it as his home screen later. Sue him.

He walked over to the TV and turned it off and then the house really was silent. It was nice but he much rathered hearing Finley or Bill.

Before he could turn around, someone hugged him from behind. Which was…  _ new _ . He turned around in their arms and was met with Bill and a little baby pressed between them.

“Oh,” Stan whispered out. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“N-nah. You d-did-didn’t,” Bill whispered back, pressing his forehead against Stan’s. Stan smiled as a heat spread up his neck and onto his cheeks.

“I obviously did.”

“... o-okay may-maybe. But I don’t m-m-mind.”

Stan smiled and ran a hand through Finley’s hair. “... I didn’t find any missing posters for him so we’re going to have to look more for-”

“No.”

“What do you mean?” Stan looked up at Bill more than a little confused.

Bill didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled Stan over to the couch.

“Billy? You’re kinda scaring me with the whole not answering thing?”

Stan watched closely as Bill sat down next to him. He puts his legs up and gently laid Finley down against his knees. He kept one hand against the boy so there was no way he could fall.

Stan also noticed he was dressed in pants and a different shirt now. No doubt one of Georgie or Bill’s baby clothes. Which was smart. It would get cold tonight.

Stan smiled a little. Bill seemed to being doing really well with this whole thing.

“So… d-don’t yell. It w-was hard e-e-enough as it wa-was getting him to sleep.” Stan nodded as Bill slowly lifted up Finley’s shirt.

“He…” Stan carefully traced his fingers over Finley’s burns and bruises.

“Y-yeah… so we, uh… c-c-can we…”

Stan nodded and put the shirt back down. “Yeah we’re not letting him go back to whoever did this.”

Bill nodded and seemed to let out a breath he had been holding. “W-we missed you… Fins m-mis-is-issed his papa.”

Stan couldn’t help but smile and blush the tiniest bit.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you rather shorter chapters that come out more often or longer chapters that come out slower?


	9. Off To the Races

Stan woke up to crying. Which he assumed should be expected. There was a baby in the house.  _ His baby. _ At least that’s why he had gathered from talking to Bill.  _ Their baby… maybe. _

He rubbed his eyes and looked around. He and Bill had come up to Bill’s room at some point last night. They laid next to each other with the baby in between them. Stan had been terrified of one of them crushing him but Bill had argued that if he wasn’t in between them he would roll off the bed. 

But now he couldn’t see Bill or Finley anywhere in the room.

He slid off the bed as quiet as he could and grabbed his phone off the bedside table. Bill’s phone was still there so he assumed that Bill must be the one up with the crying little boy.

Apparently it was 1:25 am.

Stan stretched his arms out in hopes that it would wake him up. It didn’t fully do the trick, but it was better than nothing.

He was used to waking up on early Sunday mornings. Barely having enough time to get dressed and eat before being whisked away to play the perfect son.

Stan quietly walked out of Bill’s room. From here, it was much more obvious the crying was coming from downstairs. So he could rule our Georgie as the source of the noise.

The floorboards on the stairs creaked beneath him as he walked to the living room. He was met with the scene of Bill gently rocking--almost dancing, if Stan didn’t know better--Finley in the middle of the living room while gentle music played in the background. With the crying and the low volume, it was hard to pick out what was playing.

“Are you playing… welcome to the black parade?” Stan said in a voice just above a whisper.

Bill looked up confused before his expression softened into a smile. “It’s an A-american class-ass-assic.”

Stan smiled back and laughed softly. “I’m glad you’re teaching him the classics.”

“O-of course.”

Stan crossed the room and looked down at Finley. His little face was red and bunched up. This close, his cries sounded more like screams.

“Poor baby.”

“Y-yeah. He’s been u-up for like…” Bill was cut off by a yawn. “S-s-sorry--he’s been up for h-half an hour now.”

Stan nodded along. Finley had his little hat back on, so Stan gently slipped the hat off and rubbed his head. “How long has he been crying?”

“S-since he w-w-woke up.”

Stan nodded a little. It was hard to see such a small being in so much pain. Especially when he didn't even know why.

“My m-mom-om said she w-w-wouldn’t help a-at all at night.”

“I don’t blame her.” And he really didn’t. She didn’t sign up for this. They had. And Stan was more than ready to take all the night shifts. “You must’ve been such a fussy baby.”

Bill just laughed and shrugged.

“I knew it!”

“O-okay… maybe so… but I just w-want-wanted attention.”

“When have you not wanted attention?” Stan said with a smile. Bill only laughed in response.

* * *

“Is he asleep?” Stan asked as softly as he could. He didn’t want to risk waking the baby up the moment he had fallen asleep.

Bill nodded and moved Finley into a cradle hold. He had previously been holding the little boy against his back. But now Stan could see him too.

“He’s so peaceful when he sleeps.” Stan made sure his little hate wa securely on his head.

“H-he is… but at t-th-the same time, I r-r-reallt w-wanna wake him up.”

Stan knew exactly what he meant. Sure, Finley had been beside himself when he had woken up. But Stan also wanted to cuddle him and see him smile.

“I know, B. But soon enough he’ll be awake again. Let’s enjoy the quiet just a little longer.”

Bill nodded and rubbed Finley’s little feet. They were covered in tiny socks his mom had found, but his feet were still so tiny.

“I-i-it doesn’t ev-ve-ven feel like we sh-should be allowed to take care of s-something so small.”

“I know!” Stan whisper yelled. “It’s like… how can we seriously be trusted with something so special?”

“I don’t think we can!” Bill whispered yelled back. Stan felt his chest ache. He was so pretty in the dim light with a smile on his face and holding their son.

Stan reeled back at that thought. He was maybe sort of theirs. Sure. But was he their… son?

“I guess we gotta though, Billy… he’s like our, uh…” Stan felt his hands go clammy.  _ He was really gonna do this.  _ “Like our son.”

Bill was quiet. Too quiet for Stan’s liking.

“Or not! That’s, you know, like--”

“F-fuck.” Stan stopped and watched Bill closely. He didn’t seem mad. “I have a son.”

Bill smiled so wide over at Stan and he felt his nerves wash away. “Yeah, Bill. We do.”

* * *

Bill and Stan were both now certified dumbasses.

“We are supposed to meet the Losers in two hours,” Stan said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

They had stayed up all night talking and laughing. Thinking of future scenarios with Fins. Like introducing him to the rest of the Losers. Or his first day of preschool. Or the agreement that they would heavily investigate any possible future girlfriend or boyfriend.

“But I’m t-tired,” Bill practically whined out. “A-a-and Finny is a-asleep. I wanna c-cuddleeeeeeeee.”

He lightly hit the back of Bill’s head where it was laying on his lap. Finley was safely curled up next to Bill.

“If we don’t go, they’ll know something is up.”

“W-who’s g-g-gonna watch Finley?”

“... you’re brother?”

Bill laughed and shook his head. “N-no way. He’s l-l-like twelve.”

It was Stan’s turn to laugh his ass off. “He’s eleven, Bill. But… you’re right. What about your mom?”

“It’s M-monday. W-w-work.”

“Fuck.” That meant it was only them today with Finley. Sure, they had gotten through the night. But that didn’t mean they could get through the day. “Okay… uh… are we ready to introduce Fins to the Losers?”

“I t-t-th-think w-we have to be.”

  
  



	10. The Devil Wears Button-Ups

“Why the fuck are these all so expensive?” Stan whispered to Bill as they stood in the baby aisle of Target.

They had made the decision to get some necessities for Finley before they went to the clubhouse. Just the basics. Diapers, some baby food and formula, some more clothes, and some toys.

“I h-have a better q-q-quest-quest… que-que-quest--”

“Question?” Stan asked softly.

Bill nodded. “How did m-my mom change Fins’ d-d-diaper?”

“Well, she knows how to do it from you and Georgie. So--”

“N-no… the diaper p-p-part.”

“... oh.” That… was a question. A good question, in fact. Stan moved Finley from laying on his chest to cradled in his arms. “Look.”

“Wh-wh-why me?”

“Because… because I don’t want to do it.” Stan smiled and was more than a little relieved when Bill sighed soft and carefully took a look.

“He’s… sh-sh-she put a cloth around h-him and tied it.”

“Okay. That works for now.” As long as it was comfy enough and worked, Stan didn’t mind. It was better than what he would have done.

Bill nodded and went back to looking at different kinds of formula before deciding to grab the cheapest option he saw.

“Should we get like a baby carrier thingy?”

“O-or we c-c-could get a stroller?”

“Good idea… I’ll go take a look at some.”

Bill nodded and kissed Finley’s head. “I’ll f-find more t-t-toys and st-stuff.”

* * *

Stan found his way over to the strollers and couldn’t help but feel a pain in his chest looking at the numbers. Most of the strollers were between 500 and 1,000 dollars.

“Oh baby… you’re gonna make us thiefs,” Stan whispered to his little bundle in his arms.

“Excuse me?” A voice from behind Stan said. A voice he knew all too well.

He turned around to see his mom standing there. In her usual button-up shirt and long skirt.

“Stanley?”

“... hi. Mom.” An extra level of panic rose up. Stan and Bill had walked all the way to the next town just to avoid situations like this.

“What are you doing here? And what’s that?”

“This is…” Stan looked down to see that Finley was, thankfully, asleep. “My science--health! Sorry. My health project. Just gotta take care of a baby doll for like… a month or something!”

“A month? That seems like a long time…” The suspicion in her voice sent Stan into overdrive.

“Yeah! Well, they just want to make sure we really get how awful teen parenting is and how big of a responsibility it can be!”

“Right… and why do you need a stroller?”

_Shit._ “Cause it’s a weighted doll… and he’s heavy. Well not that heavy but… sometimes I’m gonna want to put him down. And he needs to be supported. He has like sensors so if we don’t pretend he’s a real baby I’ll get an F.”  
Stan always had a hard time placing his mom’s emotions. But yet he hoped against logic that she believed his lies.

“We might have your old stroller at home. I would hate for you to spend the money.”

“... I need it like.. Right now.” There was no way they could carry through the whole hang out with the Losers. “But! I could return it once we find my old one?”

She nodded slowly. Deciding. “That will work. Make sure you keep the receipt and the box though. Or they won’t accept it back.”

“Got it! Thank you mom.”

She nodded again and smiled softly. “I assume Bill is your partner for the project then?”

Stan froze up.  _ How?! How did she know? Why did the universe hate him? _

“He’s standing at the end of the aisle looking scared. As he usually does.” 

It really was no secret how much Stan’s parents scared Bill. And sure enough, Stan looked down to see a stressed out Bill with a shopping cart of stuff.

He turned back just as his mom handed him her credit card. “What’s this for?”

“This,” she said slowly and quietly. “Is for your project.”

“Why? I can cover it with my allowance and Bill--”

“Sweetheart. It’s summer. And last I checked you’re not in summer school… when you want to tell me what’s really going on here, find me.”

He had no idea what to say.  _ Did she know??? _

When he finally put the words together to ask a question, she was already walking away.

Bill rushed over to him right away.

“W-w-what happened? I-i-is sh-sh-she telling yo-your dad?!”

“No… I don’t think so… she gave me her credit card. So… we can afford to get Fins whatever he needs.”

“W-what’s the catch?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> legit why are strollers so expensive?!


	11. The Council will Decide Your Fate

Stan felt like he was going to break the floor. His foot just wouldn’t stop bouncing. Bill had gone silent. And Finley was screaming his head off in the middle of checkout in Target.

Basically, it was a disaster.

“Would you like bags?” The cashier sounded impatient.  _ How many times had they tried to ask him that?! _

He shook his head before Bill hit his arm. “Shit--uh… fuck. Yes. Yes bag. Bags. Yes!”

The cashier gave him an unimpressed look but bagged all their items.

Stan handed Finley to Bill so he could gather up all their bags. The moment he passed him off, he started reaching back for Stan.

Stan sighed softly before kissing his head. “Daddy’s gonna hold you for a little bit,” he whispered to Fin. “Then you get to try out this great new stroller.”

Of course, Finley couldn’t understand what he said. But in a way it made Stan feel better.

* * *

“This is even worse than the fucking swedish picture book you get from Ikea!” Stan complained. He got a good laugh out of Bill.

Bill who was currently sitting on a bench trying to calm Finley down.

“W-w-why don’t I try? You can h-hold Finley.” That was the first thing Bill had said to him in twenty minutes.

For as long as Stan had known him, when he got too stressed out he would simply stop talking. As frustrating as it could be at times, it helped Bill. Stan would do anything for Bill to feel safe and okay.

“Yes please.”

Bill nodded and handed Finley back to Stan before sitting down in front of the half-assembled stroller. Stan sat down next to him and rocked Finley while rubbing his back.

“Daddy’s so good.” It wasn’t quite a whisper. Stan wanted Bill to know just how thankful he was for this.

Bill smiled soft. If Stan wasn’t practical, he’d think Bill might even be blushing. “T-thank you.”

“Just the truth.” He smiled back. He felt a flurry rise through his chest. It was almost painful.

_ Shit. _

Stan wanted to stay here forever.

He let his mind wander. About what would happen once college rolled around. Where would Finley stay? Could they afford both? Could they focus on their schoolwork with a baby?

A baby that would grow up.

Obviously this was a forever thing but was it… forever going to be both of them? He didn’t want to only see Fins every other weekend.

He didn’t realize he was crying until Bill was holding him and wiping his tears.

“Fuck! I--I’m so sorry Bill.” He tried to wipe the rest of the tears away.

“I-it’s okay… wh-wh-what w-were you thinking ab-a-a-about?”

“Nothing just…” There was no way he could tell Bill the truth. What if he chose now to do the every other weekend deal? Just because Stan couldn’t keep his emotions locked away? “The stroller really fucking stressed me out.”

He felt so relieved when he heard Bill’s laugh. “Good thing for you I was able to figure it out then.”

Stan looked over to where the stroller was put together. Bill had even put all the stuff they had gotten in the baby bag.

“Thank you so so much Bill.”

“Of c-course. Anything f-f-for F-f-i-i-ins. Fins.”

Stan nodded and stood up on shaky legs. He carefully placed Finley in the stroller. They had gotten the type that had a car seat that attaches to the stroller. Stan felt like it was the safest for a tiny baby.

Stan buckled him in and smiled soft at their little baby. Finley had thankfully calmed down finally.

“M-maybe we should p-p-put a blanket over him or something… there’s k-kinda a breeze.” Stan felt a twist in his stomach. He could already see how conscientious of a father Bill was going to be.

To distract from his feelings, he grabbed a soft baby blanket and carefully tucked Finley in.

Then Stan took out his phone and took a picture of the baby.

“W-what’s that fo-o-or?”

“I’m thinking of making him a baby book.”

“I l-love that idea.”

* * *

Stan pushed the stroller as he walked behind Bill. Bill had found a huge stick and was hitting away any plants or stones in the way.

It was kind of sweet.

And kind of unnecessary.

Bill stopped a few feet away from the clubhouse. The opening to the clubhouse had been closed and probably locked. Stan couldn’t be more thankful. He wanted to introduce them to Finley before they ever actually saw his baby.

“I’ll go inside. You watch him.” Stan was the better one at talking. And from yesterday, they learned that Bill was very good with Fins.

He nodded and that was all Stan needed before he was doing their secret knock on the clubhouse trapdoor.

Stan sat back as the door flung open.

“Tally-ho my good fellow!” Richie shouted into the forest. Stan cringed at the thought that it might wake Finley up and he would start crying again.

After a moment of silence, he let out a breath. “Hey Richie! Mind letting me in?”

“Hmm… I could. For a price.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

He watched as his best friend pretended to think it over. “For you? A discount of course… maybe snag me a pair of your mom’s underwear.”

He rolled his eyes and let out a soft laugh. “Never gonna happen.”

Richie held a hand over his heart. “Oh how you wound me!”

Stan only laughed more as he pushed past Richie and into the clubhouse.

“Stan!” Eddie said with much more enthusiasm than Stan thought was necessary. He was on the hammock and Richie quickly squeezed into the other side of it.

“Fucking finally,” Bev said witha chuckle as she blew out a breath of smoke. Stan made a mental note to have her stop smoking if she was around Finley. And honestly, it probably wasn't good anyways in the middle of the forest.

_ Fuck.  _ Was his brain going into parent mode? He was not ready for that.

“Hey guys! Sorry it took so long. I was with my mom.” Technically, it wasn’t a complete lie.

“We were hoping you’d seen Bill,” Mike said as he played chess with Ben. “We haven’t heard from him since this morning.”

“We’re worried his dad grounded him again,” Ben explained.

Stan watched as Mike gave him a look and he shot a glare back. “Actually… I have seen Bill.”

“Oh shit! Where was that, Staniel?!” Richie had a sly smile on his face and it was only growing.

“Uh… I slept over at his house? Kind of…” Completely. But they didn’t need to know that. And anyways, they had sleepovers all the time.

“Oh cool!” Eddie said. He was also actively trying to steal Richie’s glasses. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could've all slept over!”

“Well… we had gone bird watching. Just a spur of the moment thing, ya know?” Stan tapped his foot in a steady rhythm. It was now or never. “And well… he, uh… we want to introduce you to a new member of the Losers Club.”

“We don’t take new members,” Bev gritted out. She seemed a little pissed. Which was a little bit fair. 

But Stan also knew that either Finley would be an official member, or he’d leave. Finley would need the support of the club. Stan and Bill would need the support of the club.

“Yeah, but--”

“Is Bill dating someone?” Ben asked softly. 

“Oh man!!!” Richie screamed out. “I’m sorry Stan the man!! What’s she like?”

It really wasn’t any secret that Stan liked Bill. But none of his friends would tell him how Bill felt. And he knew they knew how he felt. Knew they had talked to him without giving away that Stan liked him. They were kind of assholes.

Mike jumped in, “We’ll kill her for you.”

“... thanks for the offer. But even if she were real, I would never want you to do that.” Stan took a deep breath. “I have a son.”

“Is there something I’m missing? Cause last time I fucking checked, you weren’t even engaged Stanathan!”

“Okay that nickname was just plain awful,” Eddie declared as he finally got the glasses off. “Go back to Staniel. Or be better.”

“Oh fuck you!”

“Fuck you!!”

“I’ll fuck your mom!!!!!”

Before Stan could interrupt, the job was done for him. Courtesy of Finley crying.

“What the fuck is that?!”

“Shit. Okay.” Stan was panicking just a little. What if something had happened to them? It was Derry afterall.

He knew he was definitely freaking out when it took a minute for him to register that someone was hugging him.

He looked up to see Mike hugging him tight. Mike bent down and whispered, “Go get them. I’ll help bring stuff down if you need. It’s okay.”

Stan hoped his gratitude showed on his face because the second he heard that, he was climbing up the ladder.

Bill was holding Finley and bouncing him softly. “Oh, hey, look! Th-there’s papa.”

Stan smiled soft and walked over to them. He kissed Finley’s head and started rubbing his back.

“Sorry h-h-he started cry-i-i-ing. I hope it d-didn’t mess up anything?”

“Not at all… I had just told them that I had a son when he started crying. I just hadn’t gotten to the part where we have a son yet.”

“... y-you’re g-g-gonna t-tell them r-right?”

“Of course I am,” Stan said. It might be the only thing he’s truly sure of right now. “Mike offered to help carry stuff down the ladder. Wanna help him with that?”

“C-course.”

Bill carefully shifted Fins into Stan’s arm. He was still crying a lot so Stan quickly started bouncing him and rubbing his back.

Stan gave Bill a nod and the other boy started pushing the stroller towards the clubhouse.

“Oh baby boy,” Stan whispered to Finley. “You’re okay. You’re okay.” Stan took a seat on a tree stump. “Are you hungry? Shit, you can’t answer me. Fuck--don’t say bad words. Your daddy would kill me. Holy shit, what if your first word is something bad? That would be a disaster.”

Stan was caught off guard when Finley giggled. He had seemed to calm down and now was laughing at Stan’s panic.

“Oh! Oh! Okay, you’re okay! Look at that. I did that.”

Stan stood up and held Finley close. Time to go introduce Fins to the group.

* * *

Getting down the ladder had been a little bit of a struggle. But Bill and Mike had both helped him so he knew there was no way Finley would get hurt.

“Holy shit!! It’s actually a baby,” Richie smiled soft at Fins as he said that.

“Yeah dingus. What did you expect?” Eddie shot back.

“I don’t know! Maybe that they were lying?!”

“W-well we’re n-n-not.” Bill sounded a little stressed. Which made sense. Their friends not believing them was a little hard. He softly touched Bill’s shoulder and smiled at him. He watched Bill relax a little.

“So! This is Finley,” Stan said to everyone. He held Finley up a bit so everyone could get a good luck at him. “This is our son!!”

“Our?” Bev asked slowly. “As in you and Bill?”

Stan nodded in response and held Finley closer to him again.

“Where did you even get this baby?” Eddie asked. Always the one on top of things.”

“Maybe Billiam knocked up some girl.”

“N-not funny R-r-richie.”

“We found him in the woods. And our original plan was to find his biological parents.”

“What changed?” Mike asked.

“... whoever left him had hurt him a lot.” Stan leaned his head against Bill. It was hard to think about. Their tiny little baby so hurt.

“Hurt how?” Ben asked with a nervous smile.

“Fins h-has r-r-really bad bruises and b-burns.” Stan watched as they nodded along to what Bill had said.

“Can I hold him?” As much as Stan wanted them to hold Finley. And especially Ben, who he did trust… 

“Not yet guys,” Stan said, standing up straighter. “We have no idea what shots he has or doesn’t have. Or even if he is sick or not. After we go to a doctor, you all totally can.”

“That’s a good idea,” Eddie agreed. “Most babies have really really weak immune systems! If one of us touched him and he doesn't have the proper shots and immunities he can die!”

“Slow down Eds!” Richie said and then turned with a soft smile to Stan and Bill. “He’ll be fine. I didn’t get shots till I was like… five. And I’m perfectly fine.”

“I wouldn’t call you perfectly fine,” Eddie said at the same time Stan shot back, “That explains so much.”

“T-thanks Richie… w-we’re gonna have to find a doc-d--doctor soon.”

Stan chuckled a little. “And they’ll probably stop working with us very soon.”

“Why’s that?” Mike asked. Stan admired someone who had a brain in this group.

“Bill thinks that--”

“N-no I know. For a f-f-fact.”

“Okay. Bill knows, for a fact, that Finley is a fairy.”

Stan watched as everyone started laughing their asses off. But he just stayed silent and watched as they quickly regained their composure.

Bev looked between Stan, Bill, and Finley. “And why the fuck do you think that?”

Bill carefully took off Finley's little hat. Stan could’ve sworn his ears looked even pointer.

Richie looked amazed as he shouted, “Holy shit dudes!!!”

“A-and he has baby fangs.”

“..... what kind of germs do baby fairies carry?”

  
  



	12. Legally Binding

Finley might be the best thing that ever happened to him. Mainly because he was able to convince Eddie and Richie that he needed to sit in the hammock to properly keep Finley calm.

It wasn’t a complete lie. The rocking did do wonders for keeping FInley content. He just also would have been content anywhere.

Stan was very much enjoying having the little bundle on his chest as Bill slowly rocked the hammock. It was amazing.

“But wait. Why’d you tell Mikey first?” Eddie asked, sounding almost hurt.

“I only told him yesterday,” Stan explained. He didn’t really have a great reason. It was just where he ended up walking to. Plus, Mike is a great listener. “I just needed to make sure the rest of you wouldn’t think I’m completely insane.”

“Well you are completely insane,” Bev mumbled.

Stan took a deep breath to maintain his composure. “What did you just say?”

“That you’re insane. Stan, you’re still a kid! That’s a whole human baby who--”

“Actually,” Richie cut her off with way too big a grin to be a normal comment. “A whole fairy baby.”

“Right!!! A fairy baby who you have no idea how to raise.”

“News flash, Beverly!” Stan could feel himself getting angry. “No one knows how to do any of this!! And yes. It is a dumb fucking idea and we are insane!!! But you really want us to leave this baby in the hands of Derry? I’m different than that. And I thought you were too.”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Then wh-what d-d-did you say? Cause that’s what we h-heard.”

She just huffed in response and went back to her phone.

Stan took another deep breath and looked down at his son. Something that so far had never failed to make him smile. He kissed Finley’s head softly and watched as Fins looked around the room. His big eyes were so curious and so hopeful.

Soon enough, someone was crowding his space. He looked up to see Richie. He vaguely registered that Eddie was currently talking to Bill.

“Hey,” Richie whispered. “I don’t think you’re insane or that it’s a stupid idea.”

“It is,” Stan whispered back.

“No dude. It’s… obviously it’s not the best circumstances. But you’re doing the right thing. And you’re smart enough to take care of him.”

“Thanks Rich.”

“Always.” He smiled with his big goofy grin and kissed Stan’s cheek. “Though I do wanna be his godfather.”

“... I’ll talk to Billy… but I think I can make that happen.”

“Awesome!”

Stan chuckled a little and hugged Finley to him tighter. “Oh! Hey, you’re smart.”

“Damn right I am. What makes you say that?”

“So… do you know how to, like, make him legally ours? And he’s also gonna need, like… a birth certificate for things right?”

“Oh yeah! Uh…” Richie tapped his foot on the ground as he thought. “Probably gonna have to lie and say he was born at home and that you’re registering his birth. But I don’t think he’s a newborn.”

“Yeah… I looked online and he looks like he’s probably about… three months old?”

Richie nods along. “Yeah… you’re gonna have to use, like, Bev probably and say that she, like… didn’t tell you for a few months. And then just register his birth out of Derry. And then maybe just put your name and Bill’s name on the birth certificate.”

“Okay… I think that will work.” Stan wasn’t sure how it was going to work but he knew it was important to do.

“Yeah! And your parents or Bill’s parents can definitely help you.”

Stan nodded along. It was a lot to think through and coordinate. “Thank you. I’ll talk to Bill about it later.”

“Course.” Richie winked before getting back up and walking away.

Stan took out his phone and quickly looked to verify what Richie had said. He was correct… but they also needed a lot of information along with that.

**hey Sharon! this is Stanley :)**

**Sharon**

**_Hello Stan! How are you? How is Finley and Bill?_ **

**we’re all good!! just doing some research abt getting him a birth certificate and everything. it’s a lot a lot of work :O**

**Sharon**

**_I can imagine! I’ll contact city hall and see what they say._ **

**thank you!**

* * *

Stan smiled as he watched Mike and Bill get the stroller up the ladder. His family--the Losers--they loved him. And besides maybe Bev, everyone seemed to love Finley. 

Finley who was currently in his arms as Richie talked to his small baby. “And then you’re… papa! Right. Papa--I met him in my fifth grade class for the first time. We were paired up and he just did not want to fucking be there.”

“Of course I didn’t! I was paired up with you, Trashmouth.”

“What’s so wrong with me?!”

“So so many things,” Stan said in a fake monotone voice. But he was also smiling so it didn’t quite work.

Then he felt a hand on his lower back. It felt like he couldn’t think, or see, or breathe. He was only focusing on the hand on his lower back HAND ON HIS--

“Hey Stanny, hi F-finny!” Bill cooed and pet Finley’s head.  _ His hand was still there! _

Stan wanted to scream. But he kept his calm and just nodded as his face burned like the seventh’s ring of hell.

Like the hell he’d been told he’d go to because of this… his feelings.

Not that he believed that. Of course not. He had in the past but… no. It wasn’t possible.

So it was okay. He was okay.

He let himself lean into the touch just to say a special fuck you to the homophobes in Derry.

“Did you get the stroller up and ready?”

He nodded and kissed Finley’s head. “C-can I h-h-hold him though?”

“Oh! Uh… yeah sure. Of course.” Bill smiled wide and Stan helped switch Finley into Bill’s arms. “There you go!”

“T-thanks!”

“No problem.” He smiled softly as he watched Bill bounce Fins and whisper to him.

Stan got one of Finley’s bottles out and filled it with some water they had bought on their trip to the store. It was nerve-wracking having a creature who couldn’t speak rely on you. But he guessed that’s just what dogs were.

He handed it to Bill who carefully gave it to Finley. Fins seemed to enjoy his water and was drinking a lot of it.

Stan had made the right decision. Now he just had to keep doing that. Keep doing that until Finley was 18.

  
  



	13. Bold Faced Lies

Bill watched as Stan and his mom talked over options for Finley. The options seemed to be having his parents claim Finley as their legal child, Bill and Bev claimed to be his parents, Stan and Bev claimed to be his parents, or Stan and Bill claim to be his legal parents.

He looked down at Finley who he was feeding applesauce to. That seemed to be one of his favorites.

In that moment, Bill wished so desperately he could just shift the responsibility to someone else. That he could just not have to deal with it.

But at the same time, he wanted Fins more than anything. And he’d make the hard choices if he had to.

Bill watched as Stan suddenly walked closer to him.

“O-oh! He-hey.”

“Hey, B,” Stan said softly. He seemed a little exhausted. Then again, Stan usually did overwork himself. It was a natural look on him.

“... wanna t-take a nap? I read so-somewh-wh-where that Fin sh-sh-should get a nap every day or some shit.”

“Yeah yeah yeah. Of course. Anything for him.”

“L-let’s just let him finish l-l-lunch and th-then it’s n-naptime!”

“I can’t wait.” Stan rested his head on Bill’s shoulder. Bill smiled softly at that.

It was nice. It was nice to be in this together with someone. Alone, he would be failing miserably. Stan would be his first choice every time.

“H-hey… if m-me and y-y-you become his l-legal parents. And not o-one of the other options…” Bill took a deep breath to psych himself up. “W-would that make u-us legally m-ma-marr-married?”

He felt Stan pull away more than he felt it. “No no no!!! Of course not. It just means that… that we are his parents!! And that can be totally platonic.”

“R-right.” He turned to face Stan more. Stan was red. Probably from embarrassment. Bill shouldn’t have asked. No matter how curious he was.

“Tons of people hook up!! And then they have kids. Or they just decide to co-parent because they’re sad and miserable and will never find love!!! Which is so fucked up for a society like ours. And Derry--don’t even get me started.”

If this wasn’t him going off, Bill definitely didn’t want to get him started.

“And I’ll probably never even get married--or if I do! Holy shit--that will be a shitshow. Especially with my dad and and--”

Bill had to cut him off. So he did the only thing he knew how to do.

He pulled Stan’s hair.

Stan immediately stopped and went quiet. “Sorry.”

“... it’s f-f-f-f-f-f-fine.” Obviously it wasn’t. And Bill’s stutter gave away just that.

“Can we just drop this for now? We need to feed him and take a nap.”

Bill nodded a lot. That’s all he wanted right now. Just to lay with his boys.

* * *

_ “Dropping it”  _ apparently meant refusing to talk about it for a week. Every time Bill tried to bring it up, Stan shut it down. Bill didn’t blame him.

But they couldn’t just ignore this.

Bill decided to launch a coup of sorts. Stan had been sleeping over every night of the week. Only leaving when his parents expected him to be at church. 

He decided to corner Stan while he changed Finley’s diaper.

“S-stan?”

“Yeah B?” Stan was half-paying attention to him. Which was exactly what he wanted.

“Well… we need to t-talk a-a-about F-fins becoming l-l-legal.”

Stan sighed. “Stop saying it like that.”

“W-what?! It’s th-th-the truth!”

“Still! He’s a baby.” Stan was finishing up the change. He put the sticky tabs down tight so the diaper wouldn’t fall off.

“Okay, well w-w-we need to still m-make him o-o-ours.”

Stan sighed and started buttoning Finley’s pants back up. “Have you even thought about how Derry would react to that? How my parents would react to that?! How the fucking church would react to that?!! We could get killed.”

“So we don’t tell anyone!”

“That’s not an option. What about when he has to go to preschool?”

“Th-that’s in like fi-five-ve years!!!”

Stan took a deep breath to center himself. “Okay. Then what about the fact that we’re both boys? Bowers would-”

“Screw him!!! I don’t want my mom or dad having custody over my son!!” Bill really wasn’t thinking as the words spilled out. And like most of those hotheaded times, his stutter made no point to interject.

“It’s going to make everything harder, Bill!!”

“No it won’t. We just will keep him our tiny little secret until we can leave this sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shit town!!!”

And there was his stutter.

Stan looked down at Finley, then back up at Bill.

“Okay. Tell me your plan then.”

“I’ve l-l-looked over the paperwork. They won’t e-e-even do a blo-o-od test. They just need a witness to the b-birth.”

“Who would that be?”

“M-my m-m-mom.”

“And we’re just going to lie that one of us was… ya know?”

Bill nodded slowly. Yes, it was incredibly insane. And it was really gross when he thought about it for too long. But at the same time, he knew he would do anything for Finley.

The only way Fins would have both their last names would be doing this. The only way they could take him the moment they were able to leave Derry would be doing this. The only way to ensure he was safe… 

It was incredibly insane and slightly immoral. But Finley needed them. Needed this. The sooner they did this, the sooner they could take him to the doctor and make sure he was okay.

“... fine. But… we’re not telling anyone how we did it. None of our friends get to know. And we will forget about this and never talk about it again. As far as anyone’s concerned, we just adopted him.”

“D-deal. I couldn’t agree ma-ma-more.”

* * *

Finley Elmo Uris-Denbrough became their legal child that Saturday. His made-up birthday being March 13th. It matched up with how old they thought he was and it was Stan’s favorite number.

Stan got to choose his birthday as a compromise for having to lie about… well all of this.

And like they had agreed to, they didn’t talk about it again.

But it was still a nice feeling to know that their little boy was safely theirs.

  
  



	14. Hold on Tight

Stan held Finley while Bill and Sharon talked to the pediatrician’s receptionist. Sharon had suggested they go to Bill’s old doctor who had moved their practice out of Derry and both boys had agreed. They would never in a million years take him to a doctor in Derry.

Finley was wiggling around in Stan’s arms. Stan shifted so they could get a better look at the mural on the wall. Hoping that it would calm Fins down.

“Hey, buds. Look at the wall. It’s really cool, huh?” He whispered soft to the boy so as not to disturb anyone else in the waiting room. “There’s a castle. And a friendly dragon. Some dragons aren’t that friendly. But that one is.”

Fin made little sounds and bounced his arms around. Stan softly kissed his head 

“Yeah buddy. Yeah.”

Stan continued to whisper to his son about the mural until Bill came back over.

“Th-they’re ready to see him.”

Stan couldn’t help but smile. Not only because he was impatient and waiting here wasn’t the highlight of his day, but also because Bill didn’t stutter as much during that sentence.

Stan stood up and held Finley as close and as tight as he could. The doctor’s office set him on edge. Always had. So he  _ might _ have been using Finley as a shield and something to hold onto. And anyways, he needed to protect Fins. Sue him.

Bill put a gentle hand on the small of Stan’s back. It sent a heat up his back and to his cheeks but he refused to call any attention to it. Besides, Bill was probably just trying to make sure Stan didn’t turn and run down the hall screaming about how he would never return.

Which is something Stan really,  _ really  _ wanted to do.

But here they were in. In a room with bright, cheery yellow wallpaper and little elephant decorations all over. It was too late to run now.

“Feel free to either lay him on the bed or sit with him in your arms,” the nurse directed as she started to wash her hands.

Stan eyed the easily three foot drop off the doctor bed. That was no place for a three month old. “I’ll sit with him,” he said with a little bit of nervousness in his voice.

“Perfect! So, we’re just gonna do a little check up first. So please hold him still.”

Stan did his best to hold Finley in place as the nurse checked everything.

And when he said everything, he meant  _ everything.  _ Finley’s eyes, ears, throat. How “tall” he was, though at this point it was really just how long he was. How much he weighed. What percentile he was in. Then there were the questions about how much he slept, how much he ate. And the list only went on from there.

But then the nurse seemed to step back. Satisfied with her findings.

The nurse started taking off their gloves and writing some things down on a clipboard. “Okay! He seems to be very very healthy. And obviously adorable.”

“Thank y-you.”

“No problem. The doctor will be with you shortly,” the nurse said with a kind smile as they left and closed the door behind them.

That made Stan freeze up. “What? What do you mean? What did she mean Bill?! Aren’t we done?”

“No D-d-dove,” Bill said softly. Bill had recently started calling Stan that nickname under the guise that it was only because it was his favorite kind of bird. “We still have to get Fins all his shots and probably even the flu shot.”

“... shots?”

Bill nodded and moved to sit down next to Stan. “I can h-hold him if you w-w-want.”

“No-- but, uh, thank you, B… I just wanna keep him with me. Know he’s safe.”

Bill nodded more and started moving around a little. Stan decided to just focus on Finley. He had to gear himself up for this.

He gently rubbed his thumb over Fin’s cheek. Fin opened and closed his mouth a few times in response.

Then the strangest thing that day happened. Stan felt arms wrap around him. He looked up to see that Bill was holding him from behind.

“What’s this for?”

“I’m, uh… I just.” Bill sounded nervous. And it made Stan’s heart flutter. Because  _ maybe.  _ “I’m gonna h-h-hold you so you c-can h-hold Finny.”

“Oh…” Stan felt like his heart was melting. “Thank you so much.”

“Cour-or-orse.”

Stan hid his flushed cheeks against Finley’s head. The soft material of Fin’s hat. Sharon had gotten Finley a whole collection of delicate hats. Mainly to hide his pointy ears from the judgemental folks of Derry.

Even thinking back, Stan can still vividly feel the sense of panic that came along with explaining Finley’s possible fae origins to Sharon.

But they had gotten through it together. And she believed them. Somehow.

Now they just had to get through the shots.

As if on cue, the doctor came in. He had a kind smile that reached his eyes. He was older which made sense since he had been in his practice for at least 17 years.

“Hello Mrs. Denbrough,” the doctor greeted. “And Bill! It is a pleasure to have you back.”

“I-it’s nice to see you again doc-oc-octor.”

“And who are these two boys?”

“The little one is Finley. And th-this is Stan. Fins’ o-other parent.”

“We have the whole crew here today! Huh?”

Stan nodded and extended his hand towards the doctor. “Hello. I’m Stan--Stanley Uris. It’s a pleasure to meet you sir.”

The doctor shook his hand. “Hell Stan. I’m doctor Blum. The pleasure is all mine--now! Let’s see Finley.”

Stan held Finley up higher. “This is him!” Finley babled in place of a greeting. Drool falling down his chin. But Bill was quick to catch it and wipe it away.

“Hello Finley!” Dr. Blum smiled softly at Finley as he put on a set of gloves. “It seems like you need to get some shots today.”

Stan tensed up a little but still had enough brain function to nod along.

“Perfect!” It seemed like anything but perfect to stan as Dr. Blum started preparing the shots. “We’ll only do the basics. We don’t want to do too much or it could drag his immune system down.”

“Makes sense.”

“Though he still will feel a little sick. So he might be a little more fussy than normal.”

Stan nodded along. He could feel himself tensing up more and more until a gentle kiss was placed to his head courtesy of Bill. And then he felt at least half of the panic drift away.

“Now I’m going to need you to hold Finley very still.” Stan did as he was told as the doctor gently gave Finley his first shot.

At first it was just the anticipation, but now Finley was screaming his head off crying. Stan couldn’t blame him. Shots were scary as shit and they hurt like crazy.

He kissed Finley’s head soft and whispered to him, “It’s okay buddy. It’s all okay. I promise you baby boy. I love you.”

* * *

The shots only took thirty minutes but it felt like five hours. It hurt Stan on a level he had never felt before to see Finley crying. Afterall, it was him who was basically inflicting the pain onto FIns.

So yeah, maybe he was crying too. It was hard. Sue him.

Stan held Finley even closer to him. Like an anchor. They were both still crying and Bill was rubbing Stan’s back softly as they walked. It felt nice. Maybe too nice. Maybe.

Sharon led them back out to the car. Bill opened the car door for Stan.

“I can’t do it, B. I can’t,” Stan whispered out in a tight voice. Finley was still crying. “He needs me.”

“A-and you’ll sit right next to him, D-d-dov-of-of-ve.”

Maybe it was the guilty sound of Bill’s voice or the stuttering picking up, but Stan relented and carefully buckled Finley in.

Bill nodded and kissed Stan’s back. He froze. He couldn’t help it. Bill just kissed him!!! His back, sure. But a kiss is a kiss. And it felt good in all the right places.

He turned and hugged Bill tight. Bill just swayed them softly and rubbed his back. A strange, vulnerable part of Stan told him that Bill was trying to wipe the kiss away. The confident part of him told him he was rubbing it in.

“I-i-it’s gonna be okay. Fins is j-just scared. But he’s okay.”

Stan nodded. Bill was right. It was all okay.

“Wanna g-go get in now?”

Stan nodded the tiniest bit and that was all that Bill needed to pull Stan into the car. They sat in the middle row with finley in between them.

Stan carefully took off Finley’s hat and started petting his hair. His other hand found Bill’s and held on tight.

After a long while of silence, Stan finally whispered, “It’s good to know he’s okay.”

“It really is,” Bill agreed.

Stan smiled soft at Finley. They were okay.

  
  



	15. Love Who You Turn Out Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a fluffy short chapter since I've been torturing the readers of my AU on twitter all day
> 
> if you wanna read : https://twitter.com/blueballoon_au

True to the doctor’s word, Finley was fussy all day. He was barely letting them feed him unless it was milk or honey. He wouldn’t go down for nap time. And he would scream if either one of them put him down.

The only time Finley was not crying was if Stan and Bill were both comforting him in some way. Currently, Bill was holding him as Stan rubbed his back soft.

Of course that’s when the doorbell rang and he was instantly crying again.

“God fucking dammit,” Stan cursed out as he walked over to the door.

On the other side he was greeted with the smiling faces of Bev and Richie.

“Hey dude!!!” Richie shouted. In response, Finley started scream-crying. “Damn. What’s going on?”

“Fins got shots today and everything loud is setting him off right now so maybe right now is not the right time guys.” There was a little more heat in his voice than he intended there to be.

“Holy shit,” Bev said.

“Yeah. So bye???”

Instead of leaving like Stan so desperately wished for, Richie pushes past him and into the house.

“Hi big Bill!” Bill gave Richie a small wave but he was more focused on their son. It warmed Stan’s heart to see how devoted Bill was.

“Richie. P-p-please either be q-q-k-k-k-uiet or make yourself useful.”

Richie sighed and reached his arms out towards Bill. “Okay. Gimme the kid.”

“W-w-what? N-no.”

After what seemed like a full five minutes of Richie just reaching his hands closer and Finley screaming his head off, Bill finally relented and handed Finley over to Richie.

It was worth a shot.

“Remember to support his head,” Stan said to Richie and watched closely.

Richie did as he was told, carefully cradling Fins to him. Then he started singing softly, “Today’s all burnt toast. Running late and dad jokes. Has anyone seen my left shoe?”

“What are you singing?” Stan whispered and Richie had the audacity to shush him.

“I close my eyes, take a bite, take a ride, laugh out loud. There it is up on the roof. I’ve been there, I survived. So just take my advice.”

_ Is Richie singing the Good Luck Charlie theme song right now?!  _ Stan asked himself. It was both idiotic and hilarious.

“Hang in there baby, things are crazy but I know your future’s bright.” Somehow Finley was slowly calming down as he listened to the singing. “Hang in there baby, there is no maybe everything turns out alright. Sure life is up and down but it comes back around.”

Stan smiled soft and took a seat next to Bill on the couch to watch.

“You’re gonna love who you turn out to be.”

  
  



	16. Baby Wings

“My little Finny!!” Stan said with too much enthusiasm, in Bill’s opinion, for seven a.m.. He lifted the ever-growing baby into his arms carefully. “You’re getting so big!!! You’re gonna be five months old today!!”

Over the past two months, they had slowly adjusted to their new life. Stan had moved over half his clothes into Bill’s house. Finley had slowly gotten toys and more clothes. And many,  _ many  _ more hats.

The only thing Finley didn’t have was a crib. Mostly because of how expensive it was. And finding the space. Yet, slowly but surely, Stan and Bill were moving stuff around to add the crib they so desperately needed.

For now, Fins would sleep between the both of them or on one of their chests. It was working well so far.

Fins giggled, as he did so often these days. Stan rubbed their noses together soft. “Hi baby boy!! My sweet, sweet, wonderful baby!!!”

“He’s really five months now?!” Bill asked with a gruff morning voice as he sat up more in bed. No stutter in sight. Stan would classify this as the epitome of hot. His hair was messed up from sleep and he looked so beautiful with the rays of sun streaming in.

Stan looked back down at Finley to avoid the growing blush on his face. He did  _ not  _ want to weird Bill out.

“Yep. Baby boy is five months old todayyyyyyyy!!!”

“We sh-should get him a crib.”

“We should!” Stan smiled over at Bill before directing it back down to Finley. “Daddy’s so smart Fins!”

He could vaguely see a blush creep onto Bill’s face in the corner of his eye. Stan simply brushed it off as embarrassment.

“Before the crib though, we do gotta get little man dressed!”

“I-i-i’ll get some clothes out,” Bill declared as he got up from the bed.

Said bed that Stan and Bill had shared last night. As well as Finley of course. But it was still thrilling in a way. They had shared the same bed for a few months now and it always had the effect of making Stan’s head swirly.

“Thanks B!”

“No problem.”

Stan started to take off Finley’s jammies when he caught sight of something shiny on Finley’s bak.

Upon further inspection, it was coming out of Finley’s back. Stan paled for a second. Thoughts of glass somehow injuring his small child running through his head.

“... a-are those wings?” Bill whispered behind him. He must see them too.

Stan slowly nodded and ran one finger over the small appendage. It was white, like the wings of an angel. The shine must have come from the way the light hit it. And it was one of the softest things he had ever felt.

Bill slowly reached out a hand to do the same.

“Woah.”

“Yeah,” Stan agreed. “Do you think it’ll hurt him if we put a shirt over them?”

“... m-maybe? But they’re only starting to g-g-grow in and we d-don’t have much of a cho-oh-ohice.”

Stan nodded and took the clothes that Bill brought. It was a cute little set of baby overalls and a shirt that had little clouds on it.

“Okay Fins,” Stan spoke softly to him as he explained. “I’m gonna put these on you. If it hurts at all, just cry and we’ll take it off.”

“He c-cries about everything Stan. He’s a b-b-baby that can’t talk yet.”

“Okay well… if he cries and looks in pain.”

“Deal.”

Stan nodded and slowly started changing him into new clothes. Fins looked okay and definitely not in pain so Stan took that as the sign to keep going.

Stan breathed a sigh of relief as he finished changing Finley. He wasn’t crying and he wasn’t hurt.

“W-we should probably get him custom-made clothes o-or cut his out for tiny wings.”

“Definitely…” Stan thought over any good seamstresses they knew. 

He was shit with thread. His mom had always been good but… after seeing her at the store that day they had never talked about it.

“Bev,” he said finally. “She sews her own dresses and stuff.”

“Good idea.” Bill smiled softly and Stan felt warm all over.

  
  



	17. The Big Truth Comes Out

Stan pet Finley’s head as the boy chewed on one of his teething toys. His hair was really soft, so whenever Stan was able to pet it his head without the hat on it was extra nice.

So far his five month birthday day was going well. He ate some puffs and watched cartoons all morning.

Now, Stan was holding Fins on his lap as Bill made lunch. Bill was good at cooking as long as you gave him directions. Otherwise you ended up with a burger smoothie.

Knocking at the door surprised Stan out of his thoughts.

“Who’s coming by today?” he asked as he stood up. He held Finley closer to him.

“Dunno… m-maybe mom is back from the store?”

Stan nodded, satisfied with that answer, and made his way over to the door.

Instead of seeing Sharon Denbrough, he saw his mom standing there with a gift box in her hand.

“... mom?”

As she looked up from staring at the box, Stan felt a shock of fear bolt through him. He was holding his son. He had a son. He had a son with Bill. And she could see him. She would get mad and hate him and--

“Who’s this little one?” Her voice was soft and gentle. Entirely different from what Stan had first thought up. “Did Sharon have another child?”

Of course she would think that.

“He’s a Denbrough, yeah.” It wasn’t exactly what she had asked but he wasn’t lying. That was the important part.

“That makes a lot more sense why you and Bill were buying baby stuff then.”

“I’ll pay you back!” He didn’t feel right taking her money for something like that. Especially if she didn’t know the truth.

But she shook her head and smiled soft. “Stan. I know when you’re hiding things. Just tell me the truth.”

It felt like a victory in a way. A bittersweet victory maybe, but a victory nonetheless. He finally could stop lying to his mom.

And maybe, just maybe, she would be able to still be proud of him after everything.

* * *

After he and Bill had explained the whole situation, Stan’s mom remained silent. She didn't seem mad and Stan would count his blessings where he could.

“... His middle name is Elmo?” she asked after what felt like a decade of silence.

Stan couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe because he agreed with her on how ridiculous it sounded--even if it was growing on him. But mostly it was from the absolute joy of her not being immediately angry.

“B picked it… I dunno… it’s kinda cute right?” He said once he had calmed down enough from laughing.

“... I guess so, yes.”

He nodded and leaned against Bill more. He felt happy yet so exhausted. Then again, that’s how he felt most days since Finley was still struggling to sleep through the night.

“And my… grandbaby.. He’s five months old?” She seemed a little hesitant but Stan couldn’t blame her. It had taken a while for him to accept he had a son.

“As of today, yes!”

She nodded and smiled softly. “Can I hold him?”

“Of course you can!” Stan was thrilled. He didn’t expect her to even be this open.

He slowly stood up and handed her Fins. He was half asleep at this point, almost ready for his nap.

She held Finny close and pet his head soft. Stan and Bill had told her about everything. From the fae origins to the lies to get him legally theirs… everything.

“His ears are… magnificent,” she sounded almost amazed. “It’s… this goes against everything the church stands for, Stanley.” Stan held in a groan as she continued. “But I love him already.”

He felt so relieved for the hundredth time today. This was going much,  _ much  _ better than he thought it would.

HIs family was going to be okay.

  
  



	18. New Girl

Bill felt like he was holding onto loose ends that were moments away from slipping away forever.

He turned to his little brother. With his big eyes and smile holding onto the youngest member of the Denbrough household. Youngest, smallest member of the Uris-Denbrough family.

“A-a-are you s-sure?” he asked as fast as he could with his stutter.

Georgie laughed softly and nodded.

“N-no. I need a o-o-one hundred per-”

“I got it, Bill,” Georgie cut him off with a look. “I can watch over my nephew.”

“I kn-kn-know you can, but-”

“I seriously got this dude.” Puberty did not make Georgie Denbrough any nicer. If anything, he was taking more and more after Bill’s bratty side. “I’m the cool uncle!”

“That’s wh-what makes me not trust you… he b-b-better be okay when I g-g-get back.”

“And he will be. We’re gonna watch Sesame Street and eat puffs all day!”

Bill nodded and put his backpack on. It was the first day back to school. Even if it was his senior year, he couldn’t skip because he had no other babysitter than Georgie. And even that was only for a week before they actually had to find a sitter in Derry.

That was going to be a terrifying day.

Bill took a deep breath before leaning over to ruffle Georgie’s hair and kiss Finley’s head.

“O-okay I’ll see you two s-s-soon.”

“Will Stan be back?”

Bill nodded slowly. A bit unsure overall. “Y-yeah… I l-love y-y-you.”

Georgie smiled and made one of Finley’s little hands wave. Adorable.

And then he was out the door.

* * *

“So!!! Where’s Stanny the manny?!!” Richie said in a high-pitched british voice.

Eddie was quick to jump in, “Yeah I haven’t heard from him for like a week.”

Bill just shrugged as he put the last of his things in the locker. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

“He didn’t even go school supplies shopping with me!!!” Ben exclaimed like it was the craziest thing on the planet. And maybe it was. Stan loved office supplies. Said it was like Christmas.

“Maybe he’s stuck taking care of Finley,” Bev pointed out like she was right about something. “Makes sense since-”

Bill cut her off before she could continue or before anyone else jumped in with something else to add. “Shut up!!!”

“He didn’t stutter!” Richie pointed out unhelpfully.

“Shut it!!! Can you please, for once, just shut the f-f-fuck up?! I am sick and t-t-tired hearing about Stan this and St-st-a-an that. He’s just not here okay?!!! And no, I d-d-don’t know wh-where he is so please. Stop.”

He briefly looked at their shocked faces before storming off down the hall towards his next class.

* * *

**Billy ;)**

hey stan! i kno ur mom brought you home that

nite n that you’ll be back like super soon but

u’ve never called me or came back home

not that my house is ur home im not saying that

that would be ridiculous hahahahahaahha

no but like fins misses u

and me man

soooooo maybe just text me back?

or stop by

hahahaahah yeah ok whatever dude its fine

**_Read 12:37 pm_ **

* * *

Bill Denbrough needed to learn how not to get his hopes up. Of course Stan was gonna ghost him on all of this. His parents had probably told him all about how stupid it was. And he listened to them. Stupid, supid,  _ STUPID. _

“Woah, dude. You have got some hard thinking going on,” a voice said next to him.

He jumped and turned to face a redhead. She looked around his age but he didn’t remember anyone like her from last year… 

“You don’t gotta tell me,” the girl continued on. She had this radiant smile about her. It was kind of amazing. “But if you wanna share then I don’t mind helping work you through it. Afterall, we’re kinda lab partners.”

Stan and him should have been lab partners.

“I… I don’t kn-know you.”

Her eyebrows drew together and she lightly bit on her bottom lip. “You seem nervous.”

“No! I j-just have a st-st-st… that.”

“Oh… groovy dude.”

He nodded and turned back to his blank notebook.

“My name’s Audra, what’s yours?”

“... Bill.”

“It is  _ very  _ nice to meet you.”


	19. Fever Dream

**Billy ;)**

Stan hey

k so were still doing this then?

great stan just great

its not like were raising a kid together yeah sure

haha wow i feel so goof ya know its not like we took you in for

basically the whole summer ahahahahaiuha this is so great stan

fuck you seriously

i kno that ur parents mightve been mad but to completely ghost me?

fuck YOU

**_Read 3:15 pm_ **

* * *

Bill watched as Richie played with Finley, stretching his little legs as they followed along to a “mommy and me” yoga class.

“Th-that’s stupid.”

“Eh. Supposed to be good for them,” Richie said without a care in the world. “Said to relax from stress… which obviously there’s a lot of here.”

Bill rolled his eyes. Stan was probably reaching out to Richie daily. The fucking audacity of them.

He wouldn’t change anything though. He loved Finley to pieces and he’d be more than happy to be a single parent if that meant he got to keep the little boy but… he was barely getting any sleep lately. Between the stress and Finley’s sleep patterns… it was hell.

“Maybe you should try yoga,” Richie pointed out with a smile.

“... I’m g-going out.”

Bill gave Finley a quick kiss on the head and a whispered ‘I love you’ along with the promise to come back. And then he was out the door and pedaling as fast as Silver would take him.

* * *

Silver brought him to Stan’s house. It was dark inside. They were probably at church.

* * *

He went to the synagogue. Just to check.

It was busy inside, he could hear Donald Uris over the microphone. If he went in, all the eyes would be on him.

Then Stan would definitely hate him.

He took out his phone.

**Billy ;)**

Stan im here

ok 

im at the church???

cmon man

Stan the man cmon

ur better than this

dont do this to fins

dont do this to me

“What’s got you all pouty?”

Bill looked up confused to see Audra standing in front of him. Was… was she Jewish?

“M-my, uh… my friend is i-in there. He… hasn’t a-a-answered any of my texts?”

She let out a soft hum and sat down next to him. Their knees brushed together in the process and Bill vaguely registered how it brought up the feeling of missing Stan’s touch. But it was also different with Audra.

“I’m worried h-his dad is being a d-d-dick.”

“I’m sorry dude. That sucks.”

He nodded.

“Wanna get out of here? I can help distract you.”

He weighed his options. Finley was with Richie… Richie wasn’t the best influence and would probably make sure Finley’s first word was some sort of slur… but he wouldn’t let Fins get killed.

“S-sure.”

* * *

Somehow getting out of there ended up with the two in Audra’s bedroom. She was funny and pretty and maybe could be the perfect distraction from Stan. From getting over Stan.

“Okay, I  _ need  _ to know more,” Adura said as she sat up more to listen.

“He f-fell!!! Into a tr-trashcan and then started ram-rambling about how he could live in the trash fore-ev-ever!! So boom, Trashmouth!!!”

She laughed her ass off and Bill couldn’t help but join in.

  
  



	20. The Rising of Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> where was this productivity when I had my English essay?!

**Richieeeeeeee**

wtf dude???

**Stan the man**

I?? dont know what youre talking bout rich

bullshit stan.

Bill is losing his goddamn mind

wanna tell me why you think thats my problem?

cuz hes your baby daddy???

hes raising fins alone rn

I dont think hes sleeping AT ALL its very very

worrying lowkey :O

hes better off without me and my fucked up family

i thougth your mom didnt care?

she didnt care until my dad did

but guess who told my dad? my mom so i guess i cant

win 

fins and b dont need that around them

i think Bill rather have you

im just waiting until I can leave here

wydm? 

dont worry bout it

* * *

Of course there was a lot Stan didn’t, and couldn’t, tell Richie. Like the fact that he was counting the day by how old Finley was now… three days away from six months. Or the fact that once his dad found out he had grounded him with the threat that if he was even seen talking to Bill that he would call the police for kidnapping Finley.

So maybe he was a little compromised.

All he needed to do was figure out a plan. Some blackmail on his father so then he could continue seeing his  _ real  _ family.

He had to.

* * *

He took a deep breath in as tears rose to his eyes. He couldn’t cry at home though. It was a sign of weakness. 

Yet he couldn’t help it, could he? Today was Finley’s sixth month on this planet. Had he said his first words yet? Had he taken his first steps? Were his wings growing correctly?

And yet he couldn’t get any of those answers.

“We’re having guests today, Stanley,” his mother said sternly. She was following his father’s orders clearly.

He turned to face her and wiped the single tear on his face away. A sort of hope rose in him. Were the guests his family?”

“You need to be dressed appropriately. A nice shirt and tie, please.”

“Who’s coming?”

“A young lady who your father and I think will be wonderful for you.”

What. The.  _ Fuck?! _

* * *

“This,” his dad said, introducing the two teens. “Is Patricia Blum. And this is my son Stanley Uris.”

Stan nodded and tried his best from looking bored. He would surely get a beating if he looked bored.

“Hello,” the girl greeted. He gave her a quick ‘hey’ back.

His father nodded like he had to approve everything Stan did. “Patricia--”

“Patty, sir,” the girl corrected with a thin smile. Maybe he could like her.”

“Patty. Patty here knows all about your situation…”

Great. A complete stranger knew about his son. Not only letting word possibly spread to all of Derry, but also putting his family in danger.

“But we have reassured her that won’t be a problem any longer,” his mother filled in.

Just  _ great. _


	21. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Supernatural hurt me

Stan sighed as they reached his room. His parents' voices echoing in his head with the sounds of “don’t get in too much trouble!” and “we’ll let you keep the door open this once!”. It made him feel sick.

He sat down on his bed and Patty sat next to him.

“Look you seem cool,” Stan started to say before he was cut off by Patty.

“But I’m not your boyfriend. I get it.”

Stan nodded a little and felt a blush creeping onto his cheeks. He knew Bill didn’t see them as boyfriends, but right now it was the easiest way to explain it to Patty.

“I don’t even wanna be here, if that makes you feel better.”

“I guess? I don’t want to waste your time though.”

“You’re not…” He watched as Patty gathered her thoughts.

She was gorgeous. No doubt about it. But also totally not his type. Maybe they could still be friends after all this. She seemed cool.

“Maybe we can use this to our advantage,” she said finally.

“How?” It sounded like hope. Hope wasn’t something he had often these days.

She thought for a moment before speaking. “My parents want me to date someone. And personally, that’s not gonna happen in Derry. So, we fake it. To make them happy. To make your parents happy. And whenever you want to see your boyfriend and your son, then we go on a ‘date’.”

That sounded… brilliant.

“You’re a genius!”

“Thank you,” Patty said with a knowing smile. Maybe this would work out.

* * *

Stan was allowed to go back to school in late september. Finley was nearing seven months old now.

Instead of worrying what his schedule was, he annoyed Richie enough to give him Bill’s.

He went to Bill’s first class at the end of the first period hoping to see him there. Instead, he heard him first.

“I d-dunno Audra. My… brother doesn’t like strangers in the h-h-house.” His words died in his throat. The love-- Bill was there. He was a moment away.

But who was Audra?

“Come on! We can have a little study date!!” the girl, Audra must be, squealed. She sounded annoying.

“I c-can’t not tonight. You know I need time in advance before I p-pla-ah-ane something.” His stutter seemed better. That was good.

“I don’t get why your parents are so strict!!” Stan bit his tongue so’s not to scream at her for not knowing Bill was someone’s parent.

“They just ah-are. You wouldn n-n-never get it.”

“I beg to differ.”

Stan took a deep breath. He couldn’t listen to this any longer.

* * *

Running away only led him to crying in the bathroom as he held one of Finley’s hats. He didn’t remember how he had gotten it at this point. Stan figured he must have taken it that day… the last day he’d seen his son so far.

He pulled out his phone. His fingertips hovered over Bill’s contact before switching and clicking on Richie’s.

**Stan the man**

welp hes replaced me

**Richieeeeeeee**

u mean Audra?

u knew?

he had to move on eventually stan

he had no idea what happened or even if you

cared abt him or not

Stan felt the tears stinging his eyes.

Maybe Patty’s plan was useless.

He had lost his one shot at something good. Maybe he should move on too.

  
  



	22. Ironic Isn't It?

Bill unlocked the front door, immediately dropping his bag onto the floor. He was exhausted. Had been since Stan left.

But at least he was able to focus on everything. He got enough sleep when Finley didn’t wake up crying his eyes out. And he was able to feed his son. That was mostly thanks to his parents' help but he did what he could to pitch in. He would need a real job soon though. And he was able to go to school thanks to the lovely sitter he found. She was around their age and homeschooled so it worked perfectly. Plus, she was a saint when it came to Finley.

Bill just wished him and Stan could have found her together.

“Do you need me to stay longer?” the babysitter, Patty, asked. She really was a saint.

“No. Y-you don’t gotta do th-th-that. I… I got it.” Bill walked over and picked up Finley from where he was laying with his favorite blanket on the ground. He kissed Fin’s head. “Hi little Finny!”

“Let me rephrase that. I’m staying and you are going to take a nap.”

“W-w-why would I let you d-do that?”

She thought it over for a second as she cleaned up some of Finley’s toys. “Because it’s free of charge, he hasn’t taken his nap yet, and you need to sleep to survive.”

“C-can’t argue w-w-with that, can I?”

“Nope!”

Patty might have had the brightest smile he had ever seen. With such a bright energy. It was something that made his afternoons bearable.

Georgie was at all his after school classes, and without her it would just be him and FInley.

He smiled soft as he laid down on the couch, Finley safely tucked in his arms.

Bill ran a thumb over Finley’s soft cheek. Over the past month or so he had come to realize that Finley had a faint scar on his cheek. It definitely wasn’t from anyone here… it must have been from before they found him.

Bill pressed a soft kiss to it. Fin giggled at the kiss. He giggled so much recently.

Fins was the perfect baby. Besides his sleeping, he gave Bill no problems. The doctors said he was right on track with his development.

Bill watched as Finley rolled around getting comfortable. After a minute, the little boy decided to lay on his stomach.

Bill pat his back softly as he himself slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Patty would never be a detective. Her parents had known that for a while. She was… a bit oblivious on that fact.

She smiled soft as Finley soon fell asleep after Bill. She loved babysitting. Especially for this adorable little boy. He was silly and almost reminded her of someone… but she couldn't place who.

Patty got up and went to the kitchen. She planned to make some lunch for when Bill woke up. She was already hungry herself so it didn’t seem like a big deal.

She was stopped by her phone ringing. She looked down to see Stan’s contact popping up on her screen.

Patty answered the call as she got sandwich makings out. “Hi!”

It took a moment before Stan’s quiet voice came from the other side, “Hey Pats.”

“Hey… what’s up? Is something wrong?”

“No! I was just…” There was another long pause as Patty started making the sandwiches. “Can you come over and hang out? I’m just kind of, like… lonely?”

“Oh… I can’t really,” Patty replied. She felt horrible but… Bill needed her. And she usually didn’t stay. Bill needed her. “I’m babysitting.”

“Oh… I didn’t know you did that. Who do you babysit?”

“A few different kids. Some are just random weekends whenever their parents decide to go on a date.” Stan hummed in response. “Then there’s one little baby--god he is just adorable!!! His dad goes to college I think? And so I watch him during the day.”

“Don’t you go to school though?”

Patty placed the phone on the counter, switching it to speaker. She kept making the sandwiches as she laughed soft. “Yes and no.”

Stan’s voice had a bit of amusement in it and she smiled soft at that. She felt accomplished. “What does that even mean?!”

“I  _ meanssssss  _ that I’m homeschooled. So I’m able to babysit during the day.”

“That’s cool. Do you have to be really smart to homeschool?”

“Nope! Otherwise I would surely fail out,” Patty joked. She was an average student. She knew Stan was a great student. Her parents had told her that.

Stan laughed along with her.

Their conversation continued for the rest of Bill’s nap.

  
  



	23. Rendezvouz

“So… u-u-uh before we g-go in…” Bill started saying in a whispered tone. The last thing he needed was Georgie rushing out here before he could tell Audra what he needed to. _Desperately_ needed to tell her.

“I know you have a brother,” she filled in for him, totally jumping to conclusions. “And like I’ve said soooooo many times, I have a younger brother too. I'm good with these things.”

“N-no, Audra. P-p-please listen.”

She nodded and listened closely. She was a good listener when she chose to.

“Yes, my b-b-bro-ah-other is in there… but so is Finley.”

“Who’s Finley?”

“... my son.”

She started laughing. Which Bill couldn’t really blame. It seemed outrageous. But he kept his face serious until she realized he was telling the truth.

“What?!”

“Yeah… he’s about to be s-seven months.”

“Can I meet him?”

“O-of c-c-course.”

* * *

Bill slowly picked Finley up from his crib. He was still so tiny but no doubt growing. It was amazing to see.

He was still sleeping from his nap. Audra was downstairs making lunch as she was doing more and more these days.

“Woah,” Audra said behind him.

He nodded and turned around to face her, showing her his son for the first time.

“This i-i-is Fins. Finley.”

“Aww! He’s adorable Bill.”

He smiled proud at that. Damn right his son was adorable.

Fin’s face started to bunch up and turn a little red suddenly and Bill saw Audra’s face go into complete panic.

He was quick to assure her, “He’s fine! He’s either a-about to wake up c-c-crying or… he’s leaving a s-s-surprise in his diaper for me!!”

Audra laughed soft at that and was visibly more relaxed. It was going well.

Maybe being a single teen parent wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“So…” Audra started to say. “Where’s his mom?”

Shit. “His… his o-other parent isn’t in the p-p-pic-picture anymore,”

She nodded along. “Good to know you’re single.”

“We were n-n-never really together.”

“You have a kid. That means you were sort of together,” she said in a matter of fact way as she looked around his room. Audra settled her gaze back on Bill. “But I’m very glad you’re single now.”

Bill couldn’t help the light blush that crept up.

His mind was an ever malicious place. It brought up how he once had thought he might have feelings for Stan. But that was brief, right before he left.

Bill reasoned that it was simply because Stan and him shared a bed.

He liked girls. He had liked Bev forever ago. And he liked Audra now. He was certain of that.

* * *

It was the first response he ever got. Not that he was sure this could count as a response. It came as he sat on the couch--Finley in his arms and Audra leaning on his shoulder--while they watched Elmo. It was one of Finley’s favorite shows. And maybe Bill’s too.

But now, all he could focus on was his phone screen.

**Stanny <3**

hey bill i know i have no right to text u at this point

but I promise to you that i have a good reason

He missed Stan so fiercely. He knew Fins missed him.

And that wasn’t Bill projecting. He watched Finley look around for his papa. It was just like something was constantly missing.

But then there was Audra. And maybe with time it could all work out.

Wasn’t that the endgame anyways? Eventually him and Stan would have to grow up, get jobs, get married. It would always end up with Finley in two houses.

**Billy**

hi 

hey holy fuck its good to talk to you

i wish i could say the same

i deserve that

u do

can we meet up? please? 

y 

because its whats best for Finley

That might be the only reason Bill agreed. He knew Stan was right. And as much as it pained him to say it… he couldn’t do this without Stan. He just couldn’t.

ok where?

halloween night at your house?

ok

  
  



	24. Second Chance

Stan’s phone buzzed. He ignored the first beep, far too concentrated on his history homework.

Then it beeped again.

He sighed, thinking it was probably Richie. Stan’s plan was just to tell him he was busy and then finish the damn homework.

**Billy**

hey lets do a family costume

i kno things arent gr8 rn but i want good photos for Fins

Stan smiled so softly. Bill was willingly talking to him. Granted, he acknowledged that they weren’t on good terms but… it was communication. More than he deserved after everything.

yes pls

do u have any ideas yet?

yeah!! i was thinking like Finny goes as Elmo

thats fucking adorable

it is!!! i already have the costume actually…

oh!! okay!!! 

He should have expected that honestly. It wasn’t that Stan was mad or even that upset but… he was missing so much. And he was upset at that.

who r we going as then?

bert and ernie?

okay!!! im in!!

Stan had already picked his costume out two months ago. Picked it up a month ago. He was going to be an elaborate mummy. Now, he’d just use it to scare Richie.

He would sacrifice his plans to match with his boys. He’d sacrifice anything for them.

* * *

It came faster than he thought it would… the day he was supposed to see his boys again.

He was a nervous wreck all morning. Blaming his nervous shaking on his first official date with Patty when his parents inevitably asked.

But for the first time in what felt like years, Stan was really seeing Bill!!! He was beyond overjoyed.

He had picked up a cute little trick or treating pumpkin for Finley, as he had promised to do. And now he was standing on the Denbrough’s front porch debating on whether to knock or to ring the doorbell.

“Move dumbass,” a small voice said behind him. Stan turned to see a little girl in a fairy dress and a scowl on her face. Damn Derry worked fast in corrupting their youth.

“What?”

“I’m here to trick or treat???” she said with all the sass in the world.

“I live here.”

“No you don’t.”

“Well…” she wasn’t wrong.

Luckily for him, Bill opened the door before he had to respond to the little demon child.

“Bill!”

He looked so shocked and relieved. And Stan just wanted to hug him so tight. “St-stan.” His voice was quiet and vulnerable.

Stan just hugged him as tight as he could. He missed Bill. More than anything… except for Fins. But first he had to make sure him and Bill were on good terms.

“Bill. Fuck, I missed you so so much.”

It took a second, but Bill finally hugged back just as tight and swayed them softly. “Fuck Stan. You l-left. W-w-why?”

“I have so much to tell you. And I will,” Stan promised. “But--”

“He’s in t-th-the living room.”

Stan nodded, more than thankful. He just wanted to see his little boy again.

He found him playing on the floor with Georgie.

“Oh! Stan, hey!” Georgie greeted with a smile. Stan would’ve bet that Georgie was mad at him too. But somehow he wasn’t.

“Hey little dude!” He smiled until his gaze dropped down to Finley. He was still impossibly small but also had obviously grown a bit. “Fins…”

Georgie carefully picked him up. Fin’s big eyes looked towards Stan and he lit up at seeing his other parent finally.

Stan took him as soon as he could and held him so close. He whispered to him so quietly, “Hi baby. My baby. Hello baby. Finny. Fins. How are you? I have missed you so so much. And I’m so so sorry. I love you the most my tiny baby.”

Stan only stopped when Finley’s tiny hand touched his cheek. His hand was the softest thing Stan had ever felt.

Stan held onto Finley’s little hand and kissed it soft. He didn’t realize he was crying until Bill’s thumb brushed it away.

“L-let’s talk, d-d-dove.”

  
  



	25. Abby Cadabby

Stan played with one of Bill’s hands. With his other, Stan held Finley close and kissed his head.

“I wanted to come back right away, I did. I swear,” Stan pleaded with wet eyes. This conversation may be the thing that decided if he can keep his family or not. “I just had to make sure it was safe for me to. Safe for all of us.”

Bill nodded along. It was a lot to take in, but… “I b-believe you, Stan.”

Stan hugged him tight with one arm. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“No n-need to th-th-thank me.”

“There’s all the reason to thank you,” Stan whispered out as tears fell down his cheeks.

Bill rubbed his soft thumb over his cheek, wiping them away.

It was kind of a funny scene, Stan thought to himself. Them being in Bert and Ernie costumes. Crying and hugging.

It was beautiful, Stan thought. He loved this.

“Is…” Stan whispered out before stopping himself to find better words. “What have I missed?”

“A… a l-lot.”

Stan nodded. He knew he had missed a lot. It was something he would never forgive himself for.

“He c-can kind of h-h-hold himself up when y-you ho-o-old his hands,” Bill explained. Stan couldn’t help but be proud of his little boy. “And he’s work-k-king on sitting up on h-his own.”

Stan smiled softly and kissed Fins’ head.

“He has s-some more te-e-e-e-e-eth now. But his l-little fangs are still l-longer.”

Stan laughed softly and smiled even more. “Aww! That’s adorable!!”

“It is! Oh!” Bill looked excited and Stan watched him closely. “His w-wings!!!”

* * *

Stan had to stop himself from smiling too much. He was worried that if he did he would break his face in some way. Finley’s wings had grown even more. They seemed to be fully grown besides for their size.

Stan softly touched the little appendages and Fins giggled at the touch.

“Ticklish?”

Bill nodded with a soft chuckle. “Y-yeah. Baby boy g-g-giggles so much nowadays.”

He smiled back at Bill. “What about clothes?” Stan asked while he continued to pet, and therefore tickle, Finley’s wings.

“S-some have l-l-little holes my m-mom made, others he j-just puts his wings u-u-un-un-der the shirts for. It’s not id-de-deal but it works.”

Stan nodded along. “Does it hurt?”

Bill shook his head.

“Good… god, he’s so cute!”

“H-he i-i-i-i-i-” before Bill could finish his sentence, the doorbell rang. Stan watched as he jumped to his feet and ran over to the door.

Bill opened the door to a girl dressed in an Abby Caddaby costume. She was tall with shoulder-length red hair and a gorgeous smile. Stan was maybe a  _ little  _ jealous.

“Oh!” Stan said, letting his first thought flow out. “Do you have some candy for the trick-or-treaters? I’ll go get it for her-”

“N-no!” Bill stopped him. “This is my g-g-girlfriend. A-audra.”

_ Oh. _

If it were possible, Stan could have felt his heart smash into a thousand little pieces.

  
  



	26. You Make Me Melt... I'm a Witch

“Girlfriend?” Stan breathed out. It was truly a miracle that Bill and Audra heard him at all.

Audra laughed soft and her face flushed the tiniest bit. “Yeah! It happened a day or two ago!”

Stan felt his mind start wandering, telling him that if he had only come home a few days sooner… no. He couldn’t go there.

“Are you one of Bill’s friends?”

“I… uh… yes. I am.” Bill gave him a short look but Stan just shrugged it off.

“Awesome!” Audra squealed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!!”

“I wish I could say the same,” Stan mumbled out. He saw the fire in Bill’s eyes as Bill heard what he said, but Audra seemed none the wiser.

“S-s-so! This is… gr-great.”

Audra giggled softly and put a gentle hand on Bill’s bicep. Stan tracked her movements carefully. “Oh Billy! Are you nervous.”

“Nah! J-just ex-ex-ci-cited!”

“Okay, good!” Audra leaned up and kissed Bill’s jaw softly. “Now! Let me see my little boy!!”

Stan could already tell he was capable of murdering her. And maybe, if he was lucky, he would.

“No.” Stan grumbled out as he held  _ his  _ little, baby boy tighter. “He stays with me.”

Confusion crossed over Audra’s face, her brows knitting together.

Bill looked between them for a moment before nodding. “St-stan. Let her.”

“No! This is ridiculous, Bill!!” Stan could feel the hot tears filling his eyes. Bill was blurring. It was both a benefit and a downside of the tears threatening to expose him.

“... she’s my girlfriend.”  _ He didn’t stutter. Dammit. _

“I’m--”

“You’re my f-friend. Let. Her.”

“... do you even want me here?”

Bill looked down before looking back up at Stan. “Y-y-yes. Of course.”

“..... I’m going to stay for Finley. Because he deserves… he deserved more than  _ her.  _ But you and me? Done.”

“What does he mean, Billy,” Audra asked.

Bill looked down at her, visibly relaxing. “Nothing. He m-means n-noth-th-thing.”

Stan hid his head against Finley’s hood of his costume. His tears spilled out onto his baby’s head. He felt guilty for being so reassured that he had Fins.

Maybe coming back was a mistake.

But then again… he had to do this for Finny. He had to.

* * *

So far, Halloween had been going… better? Okay?

So maybe Stan was lying to himself. But what was he supposed to do? He was hurting. Bill had made a  _ stranger  _ take his baby from him. She held him, kissed his cheek. It was awful.

Now, Stan had him back. And he wasn’t going to let him go again. No way.

Stan knocked on the next door and was greeted by…  _ Vic?! _

“Oh! Hey, Stan!” Vic greeted with his usual bright smile. The one Vic had been learning he had.

“Hey! Victor!” He waved the hand not holding Finley. A plastic pumpkin flailing around on his wrist. “Trick or treat!”

“Awesome costumes!” Vic said as he reached behind himself into the house. Stan felt the pang of hurt ring throughout his stomach.

“Uh… thanks.”

Vic smiled and then called back into the house, “Joey?! Did you take the candy again?!!”

Stan laughed softly. “Who’s Joey?”

“My baby cousin,” Vic said with a smile that made his eyes sparkle. “He’s a little over one year old. And the smartass learned to walk  _ and  _ steal things.”

Stan laughed even more. “Oh my god! That’s amazing!!”

“I’m impressed!!” Vic agreed as a tiny one year old waddled over with a full candy bowl. “Thanks J man!”

“Bickie!!” Joey gurgled out as he held the bowl up.

Vic picked Joey up. He grabbed a piece of candy which he dropped into Fins’ trick-or-treat pumpkin.

“There you go, mini Stan!”

Stan felt his heart soar at that. Damn right, this was his kid. Not that bitch Audra’s.

Stan was about to leave but stopped when Joey’s tiny hand reached out to try and touch Finley. Stan stepped closer so Joey could softly pet Finley’s cheek.

“Joey,” Vic said with a huge smile on his face. “This is my friend Stan and his son Finley.”

“Linny!” Joey squeaked out.”

Stan smiled so wide. Joey was just adorable.

* * *

“We should get them together some time,” Bill heard Stan offer to Victor. Not even asking him first.

It wasn’t like Bill was jealous. No. That would be ridiculous. He liked Audra.

And anyways, Stan had been acting so weird. If it wasn’t for Fins, he would probably just drop Stan altogether. Things had been good before Audra arrived. But if Stan couldn’t tolerate her, then they had nothing. Stan was nothing to him.

  
  



End file.
